Where we're going, we don't need roads
by iloveashandquinn
Summary: Anna Carter was 16 years old when she joined the rebellion against the Empire- three years later two old friends come back into her life aboard the Falcon, bringing the plans, a Princess, a Jedi and two droids... and well- you know the rest. Luke/OC insert into the Star Wars Original Trilogy
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! This is my first fic for a very long time- I just had to write something! I hope you enjoy it, this is my OC inserted into the Original Star Wars Trilogy, but it doesn't necessarily just focus on the movies, i.e the three years between ANH and ESB will be included!**

 **Anyhoo just give it a whirl and let me know what you think!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, and the only Character in here that is mine is Anna and any others that don't sound familiar.**

Anna looked up from the small droid she was trying to fix when she heard the ship coming into land, excitement buzzed through her veins as she waited in anticipation to see if her assumption was correct. As a commander, she had been in the rebel base's command centre when the falcon had requested permission to land. Curiosity had got the better of her, and she had returned to hangar three where she spent most of her time anyway. Not only did the ship's message say that they were returning her friend Leia, but they had actually got hold of the plans to the death star. Anna was also curious about the pilot, she wondered if Chewie had managed not to strangle Han in the three years she hadn't seen them both. Her curiosity was soon to be satisfied however as the ship slowly descended on the landing pad, she dropped the droid and leaned against a stack of empty cargo boxes watching intently as the access ramp opened. She grinned when she caught site of Chewbacca sauntering down the ramp, followed by Han and Leia- _Nope he'd survived_.  
'I'm surprised that thing can fly' she called across the mostly empty hangar, 'What a hunk of junk'. She saw Han scan the room and when his eyes locked on hers she walked swiftly over to them, 'What the hell are you doing here?' he asked, frowning.  
'Nice to see you too' she scoffed, giving Chewie a huge hug and him whining intently. Turning to Leia she smiled sadly, 'It's good to see you're alright' Leia just nodded and Anna's blue eyes welled up, 'I'm so sorry about Alderan', Anna's home planet was also Alderan and her heart had broken when she felt the destruction through the force, she squeezed Leia's hand.

'You still haven't answered my question' Han said rather impatiently behind her, Anna turned to face him, planted a kiss on his cheek and hugged him, she really was glad to see the closest thing she had to a brother.  
'I work for the Alliance you fool, three years now' she answered 'I'm an engineer and a flyer' she held her badged t-shirt up to show him in fake pride as he let out a small laugh.  
'I should have known you'd join this lot after you dropped that last shipment for Jabba' Anna winced at his comment and she nodded warily.  
'Yeah, never drop a shipment from Jabba. I hear there's a bounty out on me' she chuckled lightly 'Though I've been too busy to worry.'  
Anna suddenly felt something twist deep inside her and looked up to see a sandy-haired boy and two droids trundling down the ramp of the Falcon.  
'R2!' Anna exclaimed 'Where have you been buddy?' R2 just made a lot of beeping sounds, fortunately Anna could understand 'Who's Master Luke?' she asked just when a nervous laugh came from the boy.  
'I guess that would be me' Anna got up from her crouching position and looked up at him, his bright blue eyes shining.  
'Hi' she smiled and held out her hand, 'I'm Commander Carter, but please call me Anna' he took her hand and shook it.  
'I'm Luke Skywalker' he smiled back at her, his eyes then looking wondrously around 'so this is the rebellion against the empire'. Anna also looked around, at the large hangar- it was not impressive, there was an X-wing fighter she was in the process of fixing and about three people milling around kicking some old droid parts absentmindedly.  
'Yeeeah' she breathed, turning to Han, 'What are you doing here then, I've never heard of you doing anything for anyone else your entire life'  
Leia laughed at this, 'He's only here for the reward' she scoffed glaring at the smuggler. Anna rolled her eyes, _of course he was_.  
'A large one I guess?' she looked at Leia, and she nodded in reply,  
'Huge'  
'You dropped a shipment from Jabba too didn't you?' Anna asked slowly, Han suddenly avoiding her gaze and umming and ahhing. 'What have I told you about doing that?' she moaned.  
'Hey! Even I get boarded sometimes'  
'Oh shut up Han, I came up with that excuse for you the last time' she rolled her eyes, but General Dodonna prevented her from scolding him further. _Lucky for you...  
_ 'Your majesty, I'm so glad you're safe' he said solemnly to Leia, 'When we heard about Alderan, we feared the worst'  
'Thank you General' she replied, 'I've hidden the plans in this R-2 unit, we must check to see if its correct and plan the mission'. _Jeez Leia, no chance of a breather?_ Anna rolled her eyes and patted R-2 on the head as he followed Leia and the General down the corridor to the command centre. She turned to Han, Chewie and her knew acquaintance, Luke, and she smiled at them all.  
'You boys saw a lot of action' she said, running her hand along the side of the Falcon, 'do you want me to take a look at her?' She didn't wait for an answer, undoing the sleeves of her flight suit from around her waist and pulling them up on herself, she climbed up onto the wing of the ship. 'Chuck us those tools would you?' she called down to them and Chewie handed her bag to her.  
'You wouldn't think that she was the same age as you, would you kid?' she heard Han ask Luke, Anna popped her head over the lip of the wing and grinned at Luke's shocked expression.  
'Too much life experience I guess' she laughed and carried on pottering about.

Although Leia and Anna were friends, they couldn't be more different, both were nineteen, they both possessed a certain wisdom that made them seem a lot older, Leia's was based more on diplomatic and political wisdom, Anna's was more of a common sense approach- she had street smarts that could only have been acquired through a harsh life.  
They both had dark hair, but where Leia had it neatly up in two buns, Anna's was a long choppy bob, the soft curls finishing just above her shoulders, she also had a small nose stud and her random rings on her fingers showed that she didn't care for the military code of dress. She never really was a stickler for the rules, however there was certain calm about her that made her trustworthy, and her eyes were friendly.  
Anna could hear the guys chatting below her, listening to their conversation had been amusing, when she was finished tinkering she jumped down- startling Luke.  
'Woah' he exclaimed, in spite of himself, Anna looked at him.  
'Sorry', she smiled, she liked Luke- she could feel something about him was important and he had an innocence about him that was very endearing. 'So how come you got involved in all this?' she asked him.  
'Errm' Luke breathed and stretched his limbs from where he'd been sitting too long on a cargo crate, 'I bought those droids with my uncle and then some imperial troopers came looking for them'  
Anna nodded, 'Those two always cause some kind of trouble', Luke exhaled in what Anna thought was agreement.  
'R-2 escaped looking for an Obi-wan'  
'Obi-Wan Kenobi?' she asked, surprised.  
'You know him?' He was surprised, too.  
'He was a friend of my father's, and Leia's'' she explained, 'Him and my father were Padawans together'  
'Your father was a Jedi?' he was excited now, she looked at his bright blue eyes shone and she couldn't help but think how lovely he was.  
'He was indeed' she smiled fondly even though she never knew her father, she had heard many a story from her mother, before she too had died. 'He died before I was born, but my mother told me all about him' she didn't know why she felt the need to share this information with this perfect stranger, but there was something in him she trusted.  
'Oh, I'm sorry Anna' he looked genuinely sad for her, no, not sad- it was empathy.  
'Thank you' she looked down, 'So, what happened with Obi-Wan? Did R-2 manage to find him?'  
It was now Luke's turn to look down, _oh no that's who he lost?_ 'I knew him as Ben Kenobi, the imperials who had looked for the droids went to my house and killed my Aunt and Uncle' he paused sad but also incredibly angry, she looked at him a deep frown developing, _this poor kid_ 'Then Ben convinced me to go with him to help the Princess, and learn the ways of the force' she smiled at this, of course it wouldn't have taken him much persuading after that.  
'I knew you were something special' he looked at her, a puzzled look on his face, she sighed 'I'm force sensitive- I can feel those who are strong with the force'.  
'Ah' he nodded, 'wait- so you can train to be a Jedi?' he was then excited again, but she just laughed and shook her head.  
'I don't think so- I'm not strong with it, just can feel things and do a few tricks' she laughed again.  
'Yeah but it gets really annoying after a while kid- she always moves your stuff' Han frowned, Anna had almost forgotten he was there, she was too busy conversing, Luke looked at Han and then back at Anna.  
'But surely you can?' he persisted, 'I never even knew of the Force until yesterday'  
'Yeah but Luke you're special, there's just something about you' She smiled to him.  
'Woah- watch out kid' Han laughed 'she likes you'  
'Oh shut-up you, not like that' Anna pushed Han off the crate he was sat on, she looked at Luke- a slight pink colour in his cheeks.  
'So what happened then?' Anna continued the conversation, eyeing Han scrambling back onto his seat, with Chewie laughing at him.  
'We ran into difficulty on the death star' Han filled in, giving Chewie a glare, 'Vader was there- he killed the old guy'  
'Oh no' _trust Han to be so insensitive,_ Anna was upset for Luke, she put a hand on his, 'I'm so sorry' she looked into his eyes and he smiled weakly at her, 'I guess we're all fighting for a reason' she said and squeezed his hand.  
'Yeah- money' Han laughed and Chewie whined next to him.  
'I know Chewie- he's so selfish right?' Anna kicked Han's leg gently.  
"Can all Commander's make their way to the briefing room" a voice came over the speakers all over base "I repeat, all Commanders to the briefing room"  
Anna jumped up, 'Ooh that's me' she smiled at Luke and patted Chewie, 'See you guys in a bit'  
'I still can't believe you're a military leader' Han called after her, she turned to him and wiggled her eyebrows.  
'I know right!' she exclaimed 'I guess I got bored of being a criminal- I thought I'd go full on rebel' she stuck her tongue out at Han and turned to carry on walking off. Anna cursed at herself, 'Oh I forgot- canteen on level 3- you fellas must be hungry' she turned again and continued to make her way to the briefing room.  
As she trundled down the corridor, she couldn't help but think about Luke, in the last twenty-four hours he had lost three important people in his life, and seen Vader in the flesh, or tin as it were. _Ha, good one Anna, no one is ever around when I come up with these..._ She felt sorry for him, but at the same time grateful, not only had he brought Han and Chewbacca back into her life, but the rebellion was in desperate need of more flyers, and from what she had overheard of Han and Luke's conversation- he was a pretty good one. He was also very powerful, but with the last remaining Jedi dead- how could he train in the ways of the force? Anna only hoped that Obi-Wan had taught him a lot already and left him with teachings he could be practicing alone.  
Anna rounded a bend and almost bumped straight into Wedge, 'Oh hey Wedge- sorry' she laughed a little uncomfortably as she blushed for being so lost in her own thoughts.  
'Hey Anna- you headed to briefing?' he asked, _well yeah I am a commander…  
_ 'I am indeed' she smiled at him, 'I fixed that fan on your X-wing, it should work fine now'  
'Oh thanks' he gave her a smile back, 'what are you doing later?' she raised her eyebrows, surprised she replied,  
'I have no clue- depending on how this briefing turns out' she laughed nervously 'you guys might be called out on a mission'  
'Oh because I was wondering-'  
'I'm really sorry Wedge- I have to run' she felt bad cutting him off like that, but she couldn't be dealing with this awkwardness right now 'Sorry- see you later' she called as she hurried off down the corridor.

When Anna made it to briefing almost all of the commanders had already assembled themselves, but she was relieved to find a couple more entered after she had. There were now all eight of them surrounding a revolving image of the skeleton of the Death Star, with the General and Leia standing next to it.  
'The plans have been checked and verified with our predictions' General Dodonna began, 'It seems the Emperor has made a mistake in construction- it seems there is a way into the main reactor from the surface of the battle station, an exhaust-port of some sort- this is our way in'  
'So we can fire a missile or something like that, into this port and it will cause the death star to blow up' Commander Syke asked. Anna rolled her eyes, whilst it would be a good idea, long-range torpedoes wouldn't be accurate enough to get into a small space such as that.  
'You'd need fighters surely' Anna offered to the conversation, she enjoyed this part of her job, brainstorming ideas with the rest of the high command 'They would have to get close to the opening so that their short-range torpedoes can accurately enter the port and blow the main reactor?'  
Dodonna smiled at her and nodded, 'Exactly. We aim to send a crew of the X-wing fighters into battle, they are small and are easily manoeuvrable, they also shouldn't be detected by the Death Star's defences'  
'But surely they'll be something guarding the entrance?' One of the other commanders asked.  
'Yeah- surely the emperor isn't that stupid?' Anna added, earning a chuckle from a few of her colleagues, and an eye-roll from Leia.  
'This is why we'll take two strike teams in to defend from fighters and to disable the guns which protect the weakness' the General replied.  
'So they'll be the cover fire, whilst the third strike team stays on target and aims to blow up the reactor' Finished Leia.  
'How long will it take for the missiles to reach the reactor? I don't want our boys in there when it blows' Anna asked in concern.  
'It takes 30 seconds to reach the reactor- in which they'll have to pull up and get clear, the explosion will start from within and then travel out, meaning they'll have almost a minute before they could be caught in debris'  
'Cutting it a little fine there aren't we?' Commander Soole commented.  
'It should be plenty of time' the General replied coolly.  
None of the commanders were convinced, they all looked at each other and sighed, then, they nodded.  
'Okay, let's do this' Anna clapped her hands together and grinned.

Anna stood with Leia, and the rest of the commanders behind General Dodonna at the front of the briefing room. The men piled in, Anna was at first surprised to see Luke but then remembered she needed a new pilot on her Red strike team, Luke was also so enthusiastic he was practically jumping with excitement. _Oh gosh please come back alive_. She couldn't stand it if he was killed, so eager to help, so powerful. He looked over at her and Leia, she was too absorbed in the rotating plans, but Anna smiled to him and he returned is sweetly.

General Dodonna began his brief then, 'The battle station is heavily shielded and carries a firepower greater than half the star fleet. Its defences are designed around a direct, large-scale assault. A small one-man fighter should be able to penetrate the outer defence.'  
'Pardon me for asking, sir,' It was Gold leader, Anna didn't know his name, 'but what good are snub fighters going to be against that?'  
'Well, the Empire doesn't consider a small one-man fighter to be any threat, or they'd have a tighter defences' The General answered him, 'An analysis of the plans provided by Princess Leia has demonstrated a weakness in the battle station. But the approach will not be easy. You are required to manoeuvre straight down this trench and skim the surface to this point. The target area is only two meters wide. It's a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. A precise hit will start a chain reaction which should destroy the station. Only a precise hit will set off a chain reaction. The shaft is ray-shielded, so you'll have to use proton torpedoes.'  
'That's impossible! Even for a computer' Anna heard Wedge say, she looked up to find Luke sat next to him.  
'It's not impossible. I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back home, they're not much bigger than two meters.' He caught Anna's eye and she smiled at him- she didn't know what the hell womp rats were, but Wedge looked satisfied.  
'Then man your ships. And may the Force be with you.' General Dodonna concluded his briefing, Anna and the rest of the commanders headed out of the back exit of the briefing room, so that those whose strike teams were flying this mission could meet them down in the hangars.

When Anna got to hangar three she found that her team's five X-wings had been brought in, fuelled and ready to go. While the team were putting on their full flight suits and grabbing their helmets, Anna took a scanner from an orderly.  
'Okay team' she called and the two stragglers which were Luke and Wedge half-jogged over to her, 'Good luck out their today- concentrate, focus and please oh please remain calm' she smiled to them all- she really was fond of them, 'You may all have met Luke' she raised her arm in a gesture to him, 'he's the newest member of our team, so look after him out their' they all smiled. 'Luke you'll be Red-5' and she turned round and pointed at his fighter, 'As the General said gentlemen, man your ships and may the force be with you'.  
Anna had to quickly tap Luke to stop him from going straight to his fighter, as she went along quickly scanning each ship and giving them the thumbs up for take-off, she asked him if he was alright.  
'Yeah- I guess, Han's leaving though' he grumbled.  
'What?' she exclaimed, 'He wasn't going to tell me' she was really hurt that Han would do something like that and vowed to find him after she had cleared them all for take-off. Finally they reached Luke's fighter, 'You're going to be alright out there, right?' she asked, concern furrowing her brow.  
'Of course' he smiled, 'I feel like I was meant to do this' he said, so optimistically.  
'Well alright, trust in the Force- it will guide you' she patted his shoulder, once she scanned his ship she said, 'you're all clear for take-off captain'  
Then Anna did the most impulsive thing she'd done since dropping that shipment and running from Jabba, she quickly leant in and pecked Luke on the cheek, 'Good luck out there' she smiled. He looked at her with a shocked, but not disgusted look, a blush quickly rose in his face, and she turned to hide hers. When she turned back around he had his helmet on and was settling into his fighter, she gave him the thumbs up for take-off to hide her embarrassment, and he was away.  
 _Well that was awkward- stupid girl._

Anna turned round to see the orderly looking at her, she raised an eyebrow- Anna walked straight past her to the control room.  
'I don't want to talk about it' she grumbled.

 **Well what do you think? Thank you for reading and see you next week!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi all! This chapter has quite a bit of backstory- so apologises if it is slightly boring! Will try and post a follow up chapter asap- but in the meantime, please read and review…**

Anna huffed as she got into the control room, she had been unable to find Han in any of the hangars leading into the control room so had concluded that he's left without saying goodbye. She pressed the button to slide the door open only to find C-3PO straight behind the door, fussing and startled by her sudden entrance.  
'Hey Threepio, calm down' she laughed, 'it's only me'  
'Oh mistress Anna' he replied, 'I do hope they succeed'  
'I'm sure they will, don't you fret' she patted the droid who she was rather fond of, he was annoying but he did add a certain charm to the day-to-day life on the rebel base. She made her way over to the command desk, Leia looked up at her when she arrived.  
'They're leaving the atmosphere now' Anna could feel the tension in Leia's voice and she felt it too.  
'You know they will have tracked the Millennium Falcon' Anna warned, 'I guess it's us or them' she stated grimly.  
'Thanks for that input Anna…' Leia was definitely nervous.  
'Sorry'  
Anna looked down at the desk, the little dots showing the progression of the ships, they were moving into their attack formations, their voices coming over the comlink,  
'Gold Leader standing by-'  
Anna gripped the rail and watched with intense unease as all of the ships signed on,  
'Did you see Luke?' Anna asked Leia, she nodded.  
'He was upset about Han leaving' this time it was Anna's turn to nod,  
'He only thinks of himself that guy' She scoffed, just then the hub of activity from the ships caught their attention and they listened intently. They were getting in low to the surface of the death star, the anti-aircraft guns on the surface of the base were firing rapidly, but luckily no one had been hit yet.  
"This is Red-5" Anna heard Luke's voice over the comlink, "I'm going in" Anna and Leia looked at each other, both holding their breath, Anna's stomach was is knots as she listened closely to see how he would do.  
"Luke!" she heard Red-3's voice then, "Pull up!" he shouted urgently, "Are you alright?"  
"I got a little shook, but I'm okay" Anna let out the breath she was holding, and she exchanged another glance with Leia. _This is not going well._ The death star was coming into range as the computer kept reminding them, and Anna thought it was about time that the imperials would have deployed their one manned fighters as their heavy weapons weren't having much of an effect.  
"Jet!" she heard Red-3 again.  
'We've lost Red-2' a communications officer informed them. 'Enemy fighters coming in'  
 _Ahhh should we abort?_  
'The Death Star will be in range in 7 minutes'  
 _Okay, nevermind  
_ "I'm hit but it's not bad" _God, Luke is not good at staying out of trouble,_ "I can't shake him!" Anna saw Leia grip the side of the desk tighter and Anna took her hand, even though her palm was very sweaty, Leia didn't pull away.  
"I'm on him Luke hang on" Wedge replied and Anna held her breath, she looked on the screen and saw Red-6 coming in behind the fighter that was tailing Luke.  
"Thanks Wedge" Anna let out a huge sigh, he was alive for now.  
One of the teams was now in the trench, but the enemy fighters were picking them off, the General moved round the desk to next to Anna.  
'Red Leader this is Base 1, prepare for the next run'  
"Copy that Base 1" This was it, Luke was going into the shaft ready to attack all Anna could do is hope most of the imperial fighters had already been shot down and the rest of the squad could get them in their covering fire.  
"Almost there" Red leader had his targeting computer out and he was approaching the exhaust port, "Its away!" he exclaimed as his torpedoes were fired.  
'Red Leader this is base one, do we have a hit?'  
"Negative it didn't go in" no sooner had he pulled up and clear ready for another run, Red-Leader was hit badly,  
'We lost Red-leader' a commander informed them, Anna let out a small noise, these men were her crew- she trained with them and she was losing them, left, right and centre.  
Anna was astonished to find Luke taking control of the three remaining fighters, he was barking orders at them and had made his way into the shaft when Wedge was hit, Luke told him to get clear as there was nothing else he could do.  
Then Red-3 went down. _He's on his own_ Anna's heart thumped against the walls of her chest and she felt physically sick.  
'The death star will be in range in 30 seconds'  
'Luke?' One of the commanders asked, 'You've turned off your targeting computer, what's wrong?'  
"Nothing, I'm alright" everything was a blur, all Anna could do was stare at the screen, the fighters were enclosing on him and the death star was now in range. Suddenly one of the fighters was shot down.  
'What?' Commander Soole exclaimed.  
'Yoo-hoo' Han's voice came over the comlink 'You're all clear kid, now let's blow this thing and go home!' _That arsehole._  
Luke fired his torpedoes- it was a hit.  
'Great shot kid' Han was ecstatic, 'that was one in a million'.

In the command centre they all cheered and hugged, once free of Leia's tight embrace Anna picked up Threepio and spun him around.  
'Mistress Anna- I understand your joy but put me down this instant' he squawked at her and she just laughed, putting him down.  
'Let's go!' Leia grabbed her hand and pulled her from the control room, they ran towards the main hangar where they knew that Luke and the Falcon would be coming into land. When Luke's X-wing had touched down it seemed the entire station swamped the hangar, people were pouring out of every door and entrance there was to come and congratulate the new hero of the rebellion.  
When they got there Luke jumped down from his fighter and swung Leia around in a tight embrace, next he came to Anna, she jumped at him and he hugged her tightly picking her up.  
'I knew you'd do it!' she laughed and they all turned around when they heard Han's voice  
'Hey Kid!' he was running towards them, ducking under the wing of Luke's fighter  
'I knew you'd come back!' Luke exclaimed, 'I knew it!'  
'I didn't want you taking all the credit, and get all the reward!' Anna just rolled her eyes at him and kicked him slightly.  
'You left without a goodbye!' she faked anger for a second, but couldn't help but laugh when he poked her.  
'Oh no- R-2!' Luke cried making Han and Anna look up, R-2 had been hit badly and Threepio was fussing.  
'Don't worry Threepio, I'll fix him' Anna reassured him but Luke interjected,  
'I'm sure these guys have got it- come on Anna' he put an arm around her and they skipped off with Leia and Han, Chewie following closely behind.

*BREAK*

Anna had watched from behind Leia, with the other commanders as Han, Luke and Chewie got their honours. It was three days since the Death Star had been destroyed and the rebels had been busying themselves either planning the day's celebration, or been packing and preparing for evacuation. Anna had been doing the latter, although it would take a while before the empire would manage to regroup their fleet and come after the rebels, they still knew they were there, so the evacuation order had been given for a week after the ceremony. The fleet were to be splitting up into 4 smaller groups, each with one large ship, around six smaller ships and several single-manned fighters.  
The ceremony had gone well, and R-2 had appeared all shiny and fixed something that had made Luke laugh. Leia had made her wear a dress, not too dissimilar to her own, except silver not white, she really didn't share in the princess' obsession with the colour, and without the cape. Leia had pinned her hair up delicately and both women were now talking to the commanders, Anna was having a conversation with Commander Soole and Sikes.  
'So what team are you taking with you Anna?' Sikes asked her,  
'I'll be taking General Willard's team' she smiled at Sikes.  
'Ahh I see, so you'll be taking the princess?' she nodded at his question. They conversed for a while until she caught Luke's eye from across the hall.  
'Excuse me for a moment' she put her hand on Commander Soole's arm and mad her way over to Luke.  
He smiled when she approached, and she gave him a hug, 'Congratulations Luke' his smile widened at this.  
'Thank you' he looked down, 'enjoying the party?'  
'I am thank you- although talking military tactics is not my idea of a party' she rolled her eyes as they both strolled towards a low balcony overlooking the forests of Yavin four.  
Luke laughed in response, 'That bad huh?' the only reply he needed was the pointed look she gave him, he laughed again.  
'How about you?' she smiled 'you're the hero- I'm sure everyone wants to speak to you'  
He blushed in embarrassment, 'A lot of people have been coming up to me I guess' he shrugged.  
'I have a private who really wants to meet you' she chuckled softly, 'I think he wants an autograph'  
His blush only got deeper and he waved off his embarrassment 'Don't be silly' he looked at her.  
'This place reminds me of Alderaan' she sighed, looking over the forest.  
'I'm sorry Anna' he looked genuinely sad, 'Did you have family there?'  
Anna shook her head, 'No, my mother died when I was eight years old'  
'Oh' he still looked sad, 'I never knew my mother'  
'Oh Luke, I'm so sorry' she turned and reached out to hold his hand, she gave it a squeeze.  
Luke smiled down to her, and she returned it, they stayed there for a few moments.  
'Let's find Han' he chuckled at her 'I'm sure he couldn't be doing with all this posh nonsense' she pulled his hand and they went searching for him.  
They found him in the far corner of the hall, there were several sofas and seats scattered about the area with trees surrounding them and lamps hanging from the trees.  
'Oooh' Anna exclaimed 'is that Habassan liquor?' a she settled in next to Han who was holding a small shot glass.  
'It is indeed' he placed the glass down and filled it, sliding it across to her. Anna looked around quickly, she was nervous that a General would see her but knocked it back quickly, shuddering from the alcohol burning her throat.  
Han laughed- 'You want some kid?' both Han and Anna looked up at him, she was grinning and he looked a bit apprehensive.  
'I think I'm good' he said.  
'That's okay- more for us' Han laughed, putting his feet up on the small table in front of him, then eyed Anna, ' _Nice_ dress, A' she smiled at her nickname but rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. Luke sat down opposite her, next to Chewie, who was playing a form of chess with R-2 and Threepio.  
'So how did you two actually meet?' Luke asked, seeming like he had been wondering about this for a while. Anna and Han took another drink,  
Anna sighed, realising that she was going to have to tell her life story, 'My mother was an advisor to the Queen of Alderaan, Leia's adopted mother, and about a year after she died I left the palace- I couldn't stay there, so I ran' she laughed slightly, taking another drink that Han handed her, 'I was only nine, I took my mother's ship and ended up on the farthest planet I'd ever been to- Tatooine'  
'That's where I'm from!' Luke interjected, 'There is absolutely nothing there' Anna nodded and giggled, her head slightly dizzy from the alcohol.  
'She actually found me in the same place you did, Kid' Han said  
'Mos Eisley is not a good place for a child' she laughed again, 'Han was a smuggler and I was small enough to get in and out of the compartments easily – so I helped'  
'She was just a kid, she was far safer with me than alone' Han said, trying to convince Luke that he didn't just use Anna to help his profit, but Anna tapped his leg in what she hoped was a reassuring way. She knew Han had thought of profit, but he was not completely heartless, he'd grown to love her like a sister and he hadn't been much older himself.  
'It all went from there really' Anna sighed, leaning back in her seat, 'The adventures of Han, Chewie and Anna' she partially sang that part, Han laughed at her.  
'Then she got her own ship and started competing with me' he grumbled.  
'What can I say?' she raised her arms, 'I was faster' grinning she looked at Luke.  
'So how did you come to the alliance?' he asked, his eyes gleaming intently at her.  
'Well' she laughed looking at Han, his eyebrows raising whilst he was taking another drink, 'I was running a shipment from Coruscant, which is particularly difficult,' she paused to drink, 'Its swarming with Imperial troops' she paused again, 'So, when I tried to get out of there without letting them search my ship- they followed me. I dropped my shipment and went in and out of lightspeed trying to avoid them'  
'So that's what happened?' Han asked, 'I thought you were dead!' he nudged her shoulder, guilt surged through her, and then realisation.  
'Is that why you left without saying goodbye?' she turned to him, 'to get me back?'  
'Maybe' he looked down and then back at her, their intense gazes locking for a moment before they burst into laughter.  
'You stupid fool!' she punch his arm slightly, 'I'm sorry' and she put her head on his shoulder.  
'So anyway, I made my way back to Alderaan' she continued, 'I was so happy to see Leia after so many years, her and her father were already involved in the rebellion and seen as though they were practically family- I joined them' she smiled when she finished her story.  
'Wow' Luke breathed, 'That is quite a story' she just shrugged.  
'Meh- its life'

After several more drinks Anna was reminiscing about some of the _adventures_ she'd shared with Han and Chewie, much to Han's dismay this particular story was about his misfortunes.  
'-Han was trying to hide from him, so he stole some clothes from a laundry basket' Anna started laughing uncontrollably at this point, 'it turned out it was a dress and the old lady whose clothes he stole came chasing after him with her stick'  
'Don't laugh- she hit me, it hurt' Leia had joined them at this point, she was giggling at the thought of Han in a dress, so was Luke.  
'Commander Carter?' It was General Willard, Anna jumped up swaying from the copious amount of alcohol she'd consumed that evening.  
'Yeah' she still couldn't steady herself and Luke stood- putting his hand on her waist, she shot him a grateful glance, 'I mean yes Sir'.  
'May I speak with you a moment?' he was grinning at her state, and pointed to Han, 'I blame you Solo'.  
Anna laughed as Han raised his arms in a gesture of mock dismay. She walked with the General (as best she could) across the hall, she assumed he was making sure they were out of ear-shot from the rest of the group.  
'I wanted to discuss the matter of Captain Skywalker' General started.  
'What- I think of him as a friend- chill!' she replied, confusing him _. Whoops  
_ 'Erm- I was considering giving him a promotion, to Commander' he persisted, ignoring her outburst.  
'Ohhhh' Anna looked back at Luke, he was laughing with Han and Leia, then she caught his eye, he smiled sweetly. 'I think it's an excellent idea'  
'Well good, but I have a few things I need to run by you first' He nodded to her, leading her by the elbow over to the balcony she had been stood on earlier.

 **Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Helloooo! Here is the next chapter- escaping the rebel base!**

 **Thank you to the lovely guest for the review- I hope you enjoy this one!**

'So, that's everything I think today guys, good work' Anna praised her new squadron, her Red team had suffered so many casualties in the strike nine days earlier that, along with new recruits, her team had merged with Gold. 'Captain Skywalker- may I see you for a moment?' There were some 'oohs' from the older members of the alliance at this she rolled her eyes.  
'Luke, I think you're in trouble' Wedge nudged his shoulder as he left.  
'Keep walking' Anna retorted, following them out the room and then shutting the door. She spun around to see Luke leaning against her desk.  
'So – I guess you've heard about your promotion?' Anna asked, walking towards him, his eyes widened. _Guess not…_  
'I'm getting a promotion?'  
'Oh I'm sorry Luke- I thought you knew!' he shook his head, but laughed. 'Well, congratulations Commander Skywalker- welcome to the team' she beamed at him and he smiled back.  
'What does this mean?' he asked, brow furrowing slightly.  
'Well' Anna sighed, leaning on her desk as he moved round to face her, 'You and I will work with the new recruits and the merged team Gold for a while, as we've been doing- except you'll take a more central role' she smiled at him. 'Then, once we find a new planet to run our Alliance from, you will assume total command. Teaching them the manoeuvres out in the field and flying with them'  
'But what about you?' He asked, concern on his face, she smiled.  
'I will be working with Han' she laughed slightly, 'We'll be gathering any materials that the rebellion might need'  
'So not with me?' He still looked a bit concerned.  
'Well- no, but that won't be for a while yet' she smiled, 'I think it will be at least six months before we find a suitable planet, that is reasonably unreachable by the Empire'  
'Wow- erm okay' he looked nervous.  
'Luke, you'll be fine' she put a hand on his arm, 'These guys love you, and you are far better than me- I'm going back to my roots' he smiled at this.  
'Thank you Anna' he looked at her with those deep blue eyes, she shook herself.  
'Well, evacuation orders are to be executed at 0600 hours tomorrow morning, so we better get some rest while we still can' she picked up her bag and opened the door for him and smiled.  
'Yeah, I guess so' he returned the smile and pushed himself up from the desk.  
'We'll be on deck four, ready to scramble the X-wings if necessary' he nodded to her  
'I'll be ready' he smiled, 'don't worry' they both left, getting everything needed for their evacuation.

*Break*

Anna was nervous, the ship was in the middle of the first stages of take-off from Yavin four, and they had managed to get out of the lower atmosphere without any problems. However, she had a very bad feeling about the evacuation, something wasn't quite right. She looked over at Luke, she saw his face and could tell that he had a bad feeling too.  
'Are you alright?' she smiled weakly at him, he nodded to her, but his face was still a grimace.  
'There's something wrong' he partly whispered it, but it was her turn to nod, she put a hand on his shoulder.  
'I know, I feel it too' she shrugged, 'But there's nothing we can do- just be ready' she smiled. They both sat up on top of a stack of filled crates, they were both in flight suits and they had their helmets next to them. She sighed, realising that she needed her communicator that was over by the ship, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath- the communicator floated towards her. She caught it and smiled, she hadn't used the force in so long, and it felt good. She grinned at Luke who was staring wide-eyed at her.  
'How did you do that?' he was still shocked, but smiled at her, his eyes gleaming with excitement.  
'The force' she laughed, 'I've been doing it for years, and it's quite useful, plus it can scare some targets'  
'I can't do that stuff' he looked a bit disheartened.  
'Don't worry, it will come to you- I can't use it the way you do' she put her hand on his knee and smiled.  
'Why don't we help each other?' he brightened at this, 'You could teach me how to use it to move things, and I can teach you the ways that Ben taught me' he smiled hopefully at her.  
'Hmm, Luke- I don't know- I mean, you're going to be a Jedi, and I'm not- I don't think I could help' she looked at him, his eyes were so bright and she felt guilt surge through her.  
'You could absolutely help me' he persisted, 'it couldn't hurt to try' she smiled and patted his leg, she sighed.  
'Fiiiiine' she rolled her eyes.  
'Yess!' she laughed at him and hopped down from the crates, smiling to him.  
'So you want to do force lessons?' she mocked, he laughed at her.  
'Something like that'  
'We're going to be so busy with the squadron, when will we find time?' she was deflated for a second, trying to figure out how it would work.  
'Well, we'll only be working with them during the mornings' he smiled.  
'But we have strategy planning in the afternoons' she sighed, 'but not every afternoon, I suppose'  
'We'll figure something out' he smiled down to her again, she was about to say something when her communicator buzzed.  
'Commander Carter' she answered the call, 'I'll be right there' she shoved it in her pocket, 'That was Han, somethings come up on the scanners' Luke jumped down and headed to the control room with her.

'What's wrong?' Anna blurted as soon as they made it to the control room.  
'TIE fighters, 18 of them' General Willard pointed at the scanner screen.  
'They couldn't have got this far into space without a larger ship' Han interjected.  
'There must be a star destroyer around here somewhere' Anna leaned on the side of the scanner table, frowning.  
'We need to jump to lightspeed asap' Willard said.  
'We need to lose those fighters first, they can easily follow the fleet' Luke ordered.  
'Right- lets go' Anna tapped Luke's shoulder, 'Sir?' the General just nodded, so she and Luke ran out the room, Anna barked orders into her communicator for the squadron to be airborne by the time they got there.

They reached deck four and the majority of the X-wings had already left- they picked up their helmets and ran to their ships. Anna was buzzing, she hadn't flown in a long time, she climbed up the ladder to her ship, looking over her shoulder she caught site of Luke.  
'Luke!' he turned around, 'Good luck' she saw him smile.  
'You too!' he shouted back and she got into her ship.

Once out of the larger ship, the X-wings formed their attack formation. Anna was near the back, protecting the flank, she was listening to Luke giving the orders over the radio, he was very good at it. They were to form an arrow head shape and peel off when they came into contact with the TIE fighters, she could see them on her scanner- they were close.  
Anna gripped the controls tightly, her hands sweaty in her gloves and her stomach flipped from nerves as she saw the first blasts from the enemy fighters.

 _Here we go_

She pulled a rapid left tilt and pulled two fighters on her tail.  
'Gold 5 you have two on your tail' Luke's voice came over the radio.  
'I know Gold leader' she replied, 'I've got this'  
Anna pulled upwards, going into a loop over the top of the two fighters. She was now behind them, she had them right where she wanted, hitting her blaster controls she fired on one of the ships, catching it perfectly. A wing on one of the fighters blew up, the ship veered into the other one and her view was distorted with a bright explosion for a few moments.  
'Nice Anna!' she heard Wedge and laughed.  
'Oh I know' she smiled and heard him laugh at her sarcasm.

Anna angled her ship to fly back to group, the chatter over the radio was in her ears and she saw Luke had two on his tail, he was also in pursuit of one.

 _We're outnumbered._

She punched the accelerator and took out one of the ships that was tailing Luke,  
'Thanks Anna' Luke breathed, and she saw him shoot down the ship he was following.  
'No probs' she replied, turning her ship to the side rolling and going after one of the ships that was firing on Gold 4.  
'Anna!' Wedge came over the radio, 'You've got some on your tail'  
She checked her scanners and she had three, but Gold 4 was in range to get fired on, she had an idea suddenly and increased her speed rapidly. She then went in to a sudden dive pulling out of the way of the TIE fighters, she looked up and saw them crash into the two that had been tailing Gold 4. Her eyes widened though when she saw half of one of the TIEs hurtling towards her, she levelled herself but it was too late- the wing hit her.

She felt a sharp pain in her head and shoulder and then nothing, just black.

'ANNA!' she felt fuzzy, the sharp pain in her head pulled her out of the black, 'ANNA PULL UP!' it was Luke.  
She opened her eyes to a spinning view, but it wasn't due to her head, she had lost control of her X-wing.  
'Ahhh' she fumbled with the controls and pulled up before she crashed down into the atmosphere of the planet they were trying to evacuate. The controls were bleeping at her, the pressure valve had been damaged from the crash.  
'Errrr Luke?' she wheezed 'I have to get out of here, pressure is going' she said it apologetically, breathing slightly odd from the decreasing pressure.  
'Are you okay?' his voice was laced with concern.  
'I'm alive' she half laughed, manoeuvring her fighter to head back to the main ship, 'Sorry- stay safe' she left.

She landed awkwardly back on deck four, pushing the crushed canopy up she stumbled down the ladder and pulled off the helmet, which too, was crushed.  
'Fat lot of good you did me' she muttered, throwing the helmet across the hangar, then wincing remembering her shoulder pain.

Just then Han came running into the large room,  
'What happened?' he called, 'Are you okay?'  
'I'm fine, just get me a cloth would you?' she couldn't see well out of her left eye due to the blood from her head wound running down her face. He winced, she thought it must look worse than it was, she eyed him (the best she could) and frowned.  
'I'm not going to the medical bay' he glowered at her, 'I'm not doing it' she growled.  
'Fine' he sighed, 'Come on'  
She hurried with him down the corridor to get to the command centre, they were interrupted on the way by a Private who gave Anna some wipes and dressing for her wounds.

They burst through the door of the centre and Anna rushed to the screen.

'How are they doing?' she started undoing her flight-suit and Han took the medical supplies from her.  
'Not too badly' Leia replied, 'We lost Gold 6' she looked sad and Anna looked down, cursing under her breath.  
'Are you alright?' Leia's brow was furrowed and she looked concerned.  
'I'm fine, it looks worse than it is' Anna laughed, but squeezed Leia's hand in thanks. Anna rolled up her undershirt and Han patched her shoulder wound up, her white t-shirt stained with blood. He then moved to wipe her face, she winced when he got too close to the cut, and they were both glued to the screen. The X-wings had managed to take out most of the TIE fighters, there were now just three left, and aside from the loss of Gold 6, they had received little hits that had made an impact, a few of the small engines had gone and they were being blasted, but they were holding strong. Han was absentmindedly trying to press a massive dressing onto her head and Anna had to bat him away, he looked sheepish and then went back to looking at the screen.

Eventually they had shot down the last of the TIE fighters and the squad was returning to the ship, ready to make the jump to lightspeed. They had set their course so that they would drop in and out of hyperspace to try and dodge the star destroyer, when they got confirmation that all of the strike team were safely back- the small fleet were away.

'Anna?' Luke's voice grabbed her attention away from the conversation with Han and Leia, she hopped down from the desk she had been sat on whilst they had been trying to convince her to go to the medical bay.  
'Luke!' she hugged him, but not too tightly as her pain was still searing.  
'Are you okay?' he held her at arm's length and scanned her with his eyes.  
'I'm fine- it looks worse than it is' she shrugged but winced.  
'No you're not' Han butted in, 'Now you've seen he's alright, now let's go' he tugged at her healthy arm.  
'But-' she protested.  
'No buts!' Leia pulled her by the waist and Anna rolled her eyes and turned to Luke.  
'Jeeez, sorry Mum, sorry Dad!' she winked at Luke and then let Leia drag her to the hospital bay.

*Break*

'Commander Carter' the nurse said, 'you are free to go' he laughed, knowing that that was the only thing she had been looking forward to for the past twenty five minutes.  
'Ugh thank you!' she huffed, but put her hand on his arm, 'It's Anna, and seriously thanks' she smiled.  
'Woah I feel sleepy' she laughed, leaning back on the examination bed.  
'That will be the painkillers kicking in' Han laughed.  
'I like them!' she exclaimed, the room laughed at her, she then tried to get up.  
'What are you doing?' Leia asked, stepping forward.  
'I need to get up!' she exclaimed again, 'I'm taking up a bed' she whined, 'and I want foood'.  
'Nurse?' Han called.  
'His name's Kannon- be polite you fool' Anna batted his arm and he glared at her, but she could tell he was only doing it out of concern.  
'Yes?' Kannon popped his head round the corner, and smiled.  
'Can I get food? Am I allowed to go?' she flopped half off the bed and Luke pushed her back up, Kannon laughed.  
'You can indeed,' he smiled to her but then turned to Leia and Han, 'I wouldn't leave her alone until her system gets used to the medication' his lowered voice was still heard by Anna.  
'Great!' she grinned and jumped off the bed, 'Let's go!' she grabbed Luke's hand and pulled him from the room, Han and Leia following closely behind.

'Are you alright?' Luke asked her when they had slowed their pace to a gentle stroll, she looked over at him and his eyes were filled with concern, she blushed when she realised she was still holding his hand.  
'I'm fine, honestly' she smiled, looking down and letting go of his hand gently, 'thank you Luke- you pulled me out of unconsciousness' she laughed nervously.  
'I was worried- I thought you were-' he trailed off, she looked at him and smiled.  
'I'm okay' she said gently, he smiled back and they carried on walking.

They were sat in the corner of the canteen, Anna had got her food, so had the rest of them, and she was now tossing small round fruits into her mouth, trying to get them in on higher and higher throws.  
'Woo!' she exclaimed, 'Did you see that Han? Way better than you ever did!' she was laughing, the painkillers still having an effect on her state.  
'That's right A' he laughed, amusing her.  
'I told you!' She turned to Luke- excited, and he laughed at her too, his bright blue eyes were fixed on hers.  
'You have nice eyes' she stared into them, and then giggled, patting his shoulder, Luke just looked at her and smiled.  
'Hey!' she exclaimed suddenly, 'Where the hell is Threepio?' Anna looked around her, 'I haven't been annoyed by that tin can for ages!'  
'Don't wish for him back- he might turn up!' Han grumbled  
'Yeah we sent him away on purpose, why'd you bring him back Luke?' Anna joked, nudging Luke's shoulder.  
'He was on my ship- I should have thrown him out the window when we were in lightspeed' Leia was laughing.  
'Ahhh gotta love that guy' Anna laid down on the table they were at, laughing at the memories of trying to fix that fussy droid.

They spoke well into the evening, but Anna started to become drowsy from her medication, half falling asleep on Luke's shoulder.

'Anna?' Luke softly spoke, it was almost a whisper, 'Come on- you need to get to bed' he tugged at her sleeve and helped her up.  
'Hmmmm' she opened her heavy eyelids and she shifted with his help, up from the table she was sat on. She felt his hand wrap round her waist and helped walk her weary body from the canteen, she waved a sleepy goodnight to the rest of them. Han had offered to take her, but seen as though she was falling asleep on Luke, he said it was no worry and gladly taken her.

When they got to her small cabin in the sleeping quarters he opened the door and she flopped down onto the bunk.  
'Thanks Luke' she smiled, 'You're very kind' he laughed.  
'You're very welcome' he smiled back to her.  
'What was growing up on Tatooine?' she asked with a yawn and then stretched out onto her bunk, pulling her boots off- he sighed and perched himself on the end of her bed.

Luke began telling her of how he had grown up with his Aunt and Uncle after his parents died when he was younger, and how his friends had all gone off to the academy to fly, and how all he had wanted was to fly also. Then he got to the familiar stuff, what happened when the droids came and how they had rescued the princess. At this point Anna had started to drift off, her eyelids again being very heavy and she drifted off feeling very content with his presence.  
She stirred, and half woke up when she felt a light kiss on her forehead, and heard the door softly shut. 

**Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed it – let me know!**


	4. Chapter 4

**So here is the next chapter – I'm trying to write as many as I possibly can before my workload hits a high. I've got the plan for this story and unlike some of my older fics I am actually going to complete this one, so I'll keep writing.**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter- please read and review! (that would be awesome)**

Anna woke up with a tender head, she rolled over onto her side and clicked the light on. Blinking in the bright light she sat up, the painkillers had finally worn off, still- it was tolerable. She got up and crossed her small cabin and opened the cupboard, getting out her towel and laying her clothes on her bunk. The shower was good, it cleaned off any of the dried blood still left on her from her injuries and the warm water helped the aches in her muscles subside slightly.

Once she had dressed and towel dried her hair until it was slightly damp, she pulled on her boots and headed out of the sleeping quarters to the canteen for breakfast. She had put on her grey jumpsuit and left her flight-suit behind, she was done with flying for a while, she crossed Threepio on the way to breakfast. He was looking for R-2, again, and had asked her how she was feeling today. He could be incredibly annoying, but she had to admit that she loved the droid. She saw Wedge just about to enter the canteen and she called after him, catching up to him, she smiled.  
'Hey Anna' he smiled back at her, 'Glad to see you're alright'  
'Thank you- and you' She walked into the canteen with him and scanned the room for a table to sit at, the majority of the crew was in there, but she saw Luke sat at one of the tables they had been at last night. Instead of making a fool of herself and waving until he noticed, she grabbed some food and headed over to his table with Wedge. She couldn't help but feel the excitement in her stomach, the anticipation of spending the day with Luke was giving her butterflies.  
'Morning' she smiled brightly and Luke looked up from his breakfast, 'Oh R-2- Threepio is looking for you' she said, noticing the small droid under the table.  
'I think he's hiding from him' Luke laughed, 'Good morning' he smiled sweetly, she sat down opposite him, and Wedge next to her.  
'What's our plan for today then commander?' Wedge looked at Anna, but she just shrugged looking down at her food.  
'It's not up to me anymore' she grinned, looking at Luke, 'Commander Skywalker is in charge now, I'm just here to advise and consult' she air quoted the last part and laughed. Wedge looked at Luke and he dropped his fork to his plate, leaning back and sighing.  
'We're going to strip the ships today- make sure repairs are in progress and that everything is working' Anna nodded at his plan as he looked at her for assurance.  
'Mine needs a whole new canopy' she frowned, 'I'll get Giles to help me out'. Giles Jorel was an engineer she had trained a year ago even though he was a year older than her, he was endearingly kind and Anna had quite a soft-spot for him.  
'I can always help you Anna' he looked at her innocently.  
'You have a squadron to command Luke' she had lowered her voice, 'I'll be fine, Giles is really helpful' she smiled and continued to eat her breakfast.

Once she had finished she got up from her seat, she excused herself from the two men, who seemed to be eating one hundred times more than she had, she needed to find Han.

Anna walked through the corridors and went down to level three where the falcon was currently grounded. When she got there she was not surprised to find Leia and Han bickering like children, she rolled her eyes, as that was all they had been doing since they had left Yavin IV.

'Starting early today then?' Anna sheepishly commented, which earnt a glare from Han and Leia.  
'Don't you start on at me too!' Han snapped in his annoyed tone.  
'Oh no- I wouldn't want to intrude on your domestic' she laughed and shuffled over to Chewie.  
'How long have they been at it?' she asked Chewie, he made an exasperated noise, 'that long huh?' he nodded.  
She leaned against the falcon, waiting for them to finish, today they were arguing over the missions Han was going to be running. At some point Anna would be joining him, she was looking forward to it. It would be like the old days of running away from bounty hunters, except now it wasn't just bounty hunters; the empire was in pursuit of them too.

'Anna?' Leia called over to her- pulling her out of her daydream.  
'Leia?' Anna smiled.  
'Will you be free for lunch?'  
'Oh Leia, are you asking me on a date?' Anna winked and Leia rolled her eyes, 'I am- one o'clock alright?'  
'Perfect- see you later?' Leia turned and left- not even glancing at Han.

'Goodbye Your worshipfulness' he called after her- then turned to Anna.  
'You really wind her up you know'  
'I know' he sighed.  
'She'd like you more if you just were nicer' Han scoffed, but the look Anna gave him prevented an eye roll- she could tell.  
'What are you here for A?' he sighed again.  
'I was just wondering if you had my toolkit- you needed it earlier to try and fix the hyperdrive?'  
'Ahh yeah- its inside' he traipsed up the ramp and she followed him, she put her hands on her waist.  
'How is it going? Have you managed to fix it yet?'  
'I think so- we'll have to do a test run soon, before I go out on a mission' he scratched his head and jumped into one of the service pits, passing up her toolkit he grinned.  
'Thanks'  
'You're going to be joining me on missions soon right?' he asked her, pulling himself out.  
'I am indeed,' she smiled at him, 'after I've passed over full control to Luke, I think it will take a few weeks to be honest- he's very good'  
'You two were looking quite close last night' he nudged her shoulder.  
'Awww shush,' she blushed slightly and nudged him back, 'he clearly likes Leia'  
'You think so?' Han had stiffened.  
'Yeah you've got competition, flyboy' she extended the last word that Leia had used to describe Han to her.  
'Wha- I don't like her' he stammered, Anna's communicator buzzed.  
'Ooooh saved by the bell there Han' she grinned, 'Thanks, see you later' she held up the toolkit and made her way down the ramp.

'Commander Carter' she answered the call, it was Luke.  
'Hi Anna, its Luke- are you ready?' his voice was a little fuzzy through the connection.  
'I am- on my way' she clipped it off and headed to deck four.

Once she got there, the squad had already assembled – she tugged on Giles' arm and gestured over to the group of men. He followed her over and they joined at the back, Luke was briefing them, looking very professional.  
'What's up Anna?' Giles whispered to her.  
'I need help with my ship- the whole canopy is wrecked' she replied in a whisper and Giles just nodded.

'-So that's what I want you to do' Luke finished, 'off you go' he smiled at them, and then made eye contact with Anna and she smiled.  
'How did I do?' he asked, nervous.  
'You did great' she laughed and patted his shoulder, 'Oh Luke, this is Giles' she shifted her toolkit onto her hip and touched Giles' arm and gestured to him.  
'Hi Giles' Luke shook his hand  
'Commander Skywalker- it's an honour to meet you' Giles was so polite.  
'Come on Giles, we need to get working on her if she's going to ever work again' Anna patted her ship that was just behind them, Luke's was next to hers. 'Let me know if you need a hand Luke?' she turned round to look at him and he was eyeing up Giles, he saw her catch him and he smiled at Anna innocently.  
'I will, thank you' she turned back, giving Giles her toolkit, she then climbed up onto the wing of the ship. She then took the kit from Giles and helped him up, laughing with him when he nearly slipped off the side.

They went about removing the canopy, which was far more difficult than it normally would be, due to the damage sustained in the escape from Yavin IV. Once off they had to slide it down the side of the wing, it made a huge noise that echoed around the massive hangar deck, the squad's heads all snapped up to look at the two of them, Anna raised her arms in admission.  
'Sorry!' she laughed.

*BREAK*

It had taken them much longer than the rest of the squad to fix her fighter, Giles and Anna were the only ones left in the hangar as most had trundled off for lunch a lot earlier. However finally they had finished, her and Giles were sat on some of the cargo boxes laughing at how long it had taken them.

'We're both fully trained engineers and it took both of us working on it to finish!' Anna smiled, 'We're slow'  
'You had some serious damage done to your fighter' Giles frowned, 'You must have had some injuries?' Anna shrugged.  
'Meh- not too many' she laughed slightly, 'I got a shoulder and head wound'  
'Were you not wearing a helmet?' His frown deepened, his deep brown eyes looking into her blue ones.  
'I was- aha, they're not as safe as you'd think!' she scoffed.  
'Where did you hurt your head?' his voice softened.  
Anna pointed to above her left eye, he shifted towards her slightly, lifting his hand, he brushed back her soft, curly hair exposing the healing wound. His hand moved toward the back of her head into her hair and he looked into her eyes, their faces moved closer, their eye contact remaining. Their faces were only millimetres away when they were interrupted.  
'Anna- oh' Luke paused, looking at the two of them with wide eyes, Anna jumped up, blushing deeply.  
'Luke!' she blurted, 'What's wrong?'  
'Erm,' he looked down, 'Leia has been looking for you'  
'Oh gosh!' she looked at the time, 'I completely forgot about that' she glanced at Giles and then hurried out of the hangar, Luke following closely behind.

'Luke, I'm really sorry about that, I-' she was still bright red and her hands were shaking.  
'It's none of my business' he said coolly, 'I didn't know you were with him'  
'I'm not' she quickly answered, 'it was nothing- just silly' she waved her hand as if to brush it off, 'it won't be happening again' she laughed nervously, eyes searching Luke's face, he was frowning slightly.  
'Are you alright?' she asked him, her hands were still shaking.  
'I'm fine' he was slightly cold, but not rude- he could never be that.  
'Is Leia mad?' she laughed, again, nervously, but so did he.  
'Only with Han'  
'Oh what has he done now?' she face-palmed.  
'I think he just spoke to her' he laughed again and she smiled.  
'Doesn't he have a way with people?' the question laced with sarcasm and he grinned over to her. _Phew he's not too mad._

'Luke?'  
'Hmm?'  
'Did you want to meet up later? For _force lessons_?' she smiled.  
'If you want to?' he sighed, 'Unless you have more engineering to do?' She could tell this was not meaning actual engineering in the slightest, she rolled her eyes.  
'Definitely not- I'm free as a bird' she smiled.  
'Well then absolutely' he smiled to her.

They rounded the corner and pushed through the doors and she rushed over to Leia who was sat at a table, she checked her watch on the way- she was only ten minutes late.  
'Leia I'm so sorry' she breathed.  
'It's no worry,' Leia said, 'I told Luke he didn't have to get you if you were busy'  
'She was busy,' Han interjected, he had just walked up to the table, 'How's Giles?' he winked, Anna's mouth hung open and she went a perfect scarlet colour again. She spun around and glared at Luke who held his hands up and shook his head.  
'I didn't tell him!' he protested, 'I was with you!'  
'Awww you could have used some creepy force trick' she rolled her eyes and walked off getting some food.

When she got back to the table, Han was still sat there, he wiggled his eyebrows at her and she rolled her eyes.  
'Are you still here?' she huffed, sitting down next to Leia, 'go away'  
'I saw you from the other side of the hangar!' Han was now laughing extremely hard.  
'Giles is nice, shut up Han' Leia tried to reassure her, it didn't work.  
'Can we please just drop it?' Anna was irritated and embarrassed, she looked at Luke for some help, but he just looked apologetically at her.

*BREAK*

Lunch had been excruciating and Anna had resolved to avoid Han for a while. She had used Luke as an escape as soon as she could and they were now on their way to one of the training rooms that they knew were empty.  
'Sorry about lunch Anna' Luke said softly, 'Are you alright?'  
'I'm fine,' she laughed, 'I've known Han for a long time, I should have realised he would probably find out'  
'Hmmm'  
'we didn't even kiss, it's just nothing' She was still irritated but she was more embarrassed than anything.  
'I know' he smiled, 'so how do you know him?' she sighed.  
'I met him last year, he joined the rebellion and wanted to be an engineer- so I trained him' she braced herself for the next question.  
'So' he breathed, 'Do you erm, well- do you like him?' he asked, _there it is.  
_ 'I like him as a friend' she said slowly, 'but I don't think that is what you mean is it?' This time it was Luke's turn to blush, he looked down, embarrassed by his questioning.  
'No, I don't like him in that way' she laughed, and thankfully they had arrived on level eight, at the training room, she grabbed his hand, 'Come on'. _Well that's more than I can say about you and Leia._

'So where should we start?' Luke looked at her, as Anna let the door slide shut, she smiled at him.  
'Well,' she sighed, 'firstly you need to clear your mind- you have to be worry free, can you do that?'

Anna had always felt something with the force, her mother had encouraged it when she was younger- she said it reminded her of Anna's father. She could feel people's moods, sense their anxieties and feel what they feared. She also had a fantastic gift of moving things with the force, but she didn't have the power that Luke had, she was no Jedi- nor would she ever be. She couldn't use the Force's power to aid her. She could sense what surged through Luke, it was like nothing she had ever felt and she was worried that she couldn't help him in the ways of the Force, he needed a Jedi master.

'Okay' he breathed in and out, and closed his eyes but it didn't work- something was bothering him.  
'Luke- what is it?' she asked, frowning, 'something's bothering you, if this is going to work you're going to have to let it go'  
'I don't know how-' he open his eyes, his shoulders slumping, she smiled slightly, taking his hand she pulled him to the floor.  
'Okay-sit' she laughed when he stumbled a little, but now they were sat opposite each other, cross legged. 'This is called mindfulness, you're going to close your eyes and clear your head, not talking' she looked into his eyes, 'we'll sit here as long as it takes', then she closed her eyes, opening them again after a few seconds to see if he'd done it too, he had.

Anna had lost track of time, but she knew it had been a while due to the fizz in her feet. What she also felt was calm, calm of her mind and calm radiating off Luke in droves, she opened her eyes and looked at him, he was completely still and peaceful.

'Luke' she whispered, it was barely a sound, but it shattered the silence, his eyes drifted open, shining at her. 'Shall we give this a try?' he smiled at her, his eyes never leaving hers. Anna pulled a coin from one of the pouches on her belt and held it up to him, she flicked it into the air and it stayed there. Her eyes were still fixed on Luke's, but her concentration was on the coin, she felt the cool flow of the Force through her limbs, spreading out across the whole of her being. She had nothing else in her head but the Force, its presence soothed her consciousness, she felt nothing and everything.  
'Catch it Luke' she smiled, 'focus, believe you can do this' she looked into his eyes, 'breathe- feel the Force- let it take over you'.  
'How-?' he looked worried.  
'Don't feel, just let it in, believe in it' she hoped her eyes were reassuring him, she reached out with the Force and felt him calm himself- he was grasping this well. She felt him reach out to the Force too, he let it take hold of him, so she let the coin go. It fell and she watched him, his eyes were wide with concentration, she hoped that he could catch it but it continued to fall. Then it stopped, about an inch from the ground in front of them both, she smiled.  
'I told you, you could do it' she laughed, 'keep your focus now, I want you to control this with your mind- bring it over to me'  
'Anna-?' she shushed him with her eyes.  
'You can do this, just believe what you want to do and then reach out to the Force, let it guide you'. Luke breathed in and out deeply and focussed his eyes on the coin, then closed them. The coin remained there for several moments, but then it began to rise, it was moving slowly upward and when it was level with the tip of his nose, it stopped. Then it started to move towards Anna's face- her eyes were locked on the coin and then they flashed to Luke, his eyes were open and watching her. She plucked the coin out of the air and Luke let out a long hard breath, she understood, using the Force this way was tiring- especially if you hadn't used it much before.  
'You did it!'  
'I did!' he laughed, 'Thank you Anna'  
'It wasn't down to me- you just have to clear your head and it works' she flipped the coin to him and he caught it smiling, then she got up and checked the time on her communicator- she had a missed signal from Han, they had been meditating for over an hour.  
'Han?' she had called him back, 'What is it?'  
'Where have you been I've been looking for you all over the place- Giles hadn't even seen you!' She rolled her eyes.  
'Get to the point' she looked at Luke in an exasperated way, he returned the look.  
'Well the General wants to see us, we have our first mission orders- we leave in three hours' Han's voice fuzzed through the communicator.  
'Ah- alright, on my way' she snapped off the communication and turned to Luke, 'sorry- I have to go'  
'It's alright Anna' he smiled, getting up himself, 'I'm quite tired after that anyway'  
'You will be, you did well' her gaze met his, 'while I'm gone- practice clearing your mind, let the force take over you' he looked into her eyes and nodded.  
'Be careful, won't you?' he asked, she could hear the concern in his voice.  
'I'm always careful' she laughed, slipping her communicator on her belt, she lent in and gave Luke a peck on the cheek. 'See you when I get back', he smiled at the kiss and she felt her heart flutter slightly.  
'See you soon' he chuckled softly, and she left.

 **Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Helloo, so here is another chapter- I didn't actually mean for this one to be this long, but I couldn't stop writing. Its Anna and Han's mission chapter, and it kind of gives a look into what they were like before she left- anyhoo I hope you like it- let me know**

 **Enough from me- have a read (and review…)**

Anna leaned back in her seat and put her feet up on the control panel of the small ship they were using to run the supply mission, she was surprised that she was being pulled away on a mission so quickly- they must really need these parts. Han and Anna had decided not to use the Falcon; it was too recognisable by the Empire and they wanted to avoid any unnecessary attention. They had just left the main ship, they lowered the shield for their exit and they had gone straight into lightspeed.

They were travelling to a far corner of the galaxy to the Beevour system, it was remote but they both knew some good dealers in that area, they would get them the parts and equipment they needed without asking questions. It would take them about a week to get there- even in hyperspace, and they would spend a few days on the second moon, getting everything they needed and also refuelling which took a while with the older ships the rebellion had.  
Han walked into the cockpit, and tapped Anna on the shoulder.  
'You alright?' he heaved himself down into the seat next to hers, she nodded absentmindedly and then turned to him and smiled.  
'I am actually- I've missed you' he rolled his eyes.  
'Don't go all emotional on me now, you know I don't do that stuff' he looked uncomfortable, but he gave her a look that showed his true feelings. 'I've missed you too, A'.  
Anna pulled her feet down from the panel and leaned forward checking the scanner for enemy fighters, or anything that could pose a threat to them.  
'Well, we're away from the fleet- so at least they're safe' she mumbled, but Han sighed.  
'As safe as they can be-floating through space'  
'They have a clocking device-they'll be alright if no attention is inadvertently drawn to them'  
'The empire is after us more than ever- we blew up the damn Death Star, they want us all dead' Han frowned, but Anna just smiled to him. 'What are you smiling at?'  
'You said 'us'' she laughed at his expression, 'you've decided to stay Captain Solo'  
'Well I suppose I have' he was defensive, crossing his hands on his chest and putting his feet up on the control panel.  
'Why?' she probed, trying very hard not to laugh.  
'What do you mean why? The rebellion needs help- I couldn't exactly leave now could I?' Anna snickered at his tone.  
'Are you sure it's not down to a certain angry Princess?' she giggled, pushing his shoulder.  
'I don't know what you mean…' she thought it best to stop there, but then Han asked softly, 'Do you really think Luke likes her?' Anna frowned and paused thoughtfully, she did think so, he was always around when Leia was with her and he was always out to impress the princess. Whatever Anna felt about Luke was not reciprocated, and in all honestly she didn't know what in hell she felt about him, so she pushed her feelings down and answered truthfully.  
'Yes- sorry Han' she patted his shoulder, 'but I know Leia- I think she thinks of him more of a brother, if you could be a lot nicer to her, maybe you'd be in with a shot'  
'Hmmm' Han was thinking, 'I always thought Luke liked you' she looked at him and laughed nervously.  
'Nooo' she protested, 'what would make you think that?' the question was meant to sound nonchalant, but she really did want to know.  
'Just the way he looks at you' he grinned at her, 'and he wasn't too pleased about you and Giles'  
'What- I-nothing happened!' Han laughed at her.  
'Had Luke not interrupted you- it would have' he chuckled, 'while you were getting food he crushed a bread roll' Anna looked up at him searching his face if he was telling the truth, he could read what she was doing. 'Don't look at me like that A, he did- I was annoyed because I was going to eat the damn thing' She laughed at him and settled back into her seat, thinking about Luke, maybe his emotions were not as clear as she had thought, she had known him such a short time though.

Anna was deep in thought when Chewie came into the cockpit, he had been tinkering with the ship's weaponry, the blasters had been failing on and off and they hadn't wanted to be caught short if they came across any Imperial fighters.  
'You okay buddy?' Han leaned his head back to look at the Wookie, Chewie replied with a soft moan.  
'I'll go take a look then' Anna got up out of her seat- Chewbacca had complained that it still wasn't working even though he had made the necessary repairs.

*BREAK*

The trip had been a long one, Anna was asleep in the cockpit when Han shook her awake.  
'Anna, we're just coming into the outer atmosphere- it's about a forty-five minute decent'  
'Humph' she rubbed her eyes and stretched.  
'You better get ready- its cold down there' he warned, she groaned.  
'I hate the cold- I forgot this was a snow planet' she stood up and stretched, 'when we find a planet to build our new base- it better not be cold' she grumbled as she trudged off to go and put several layers on.

Once Anna was suitably dressed in her tunic, trousers, two jumpers and a coat she finally agreed to go outside. The landing had been pretty standard, but then again, Han had been flying since he was nine, she pulled her hood up, it was thick and warm, but she could barely hear in it. They descended the ramp and the first thing that hit them was the snow- they had touched down in an open port- that meant little shelter from the elements. That was fine now, but when they had to leave, it would be difficult getting the engines started on the old ship. The three of them pushed through the snow and made for the cover of the port's internal corridors, for the most part it looked like Mos Eisley on the inside, except cold and covered in snow. Snowflakes coated Anna's lashes and somehow burnt her where they landed on her exposed face- her fingers were going numb, she really hated the cold. Once they made it inside, she pulled down her hood.  
'Where now?' She asked Han, looking around for somewhere to go.  
'Sia Plmary's place?' He looked over to her, she was frowning, 'Aww come on, you know they'll be rooms' he was right- the place was a dive, but there were always rooms, and they weren't half bad, it was just the people.  
'Just like old times' she muttered, and they started walking in the general direction they could remember.

It took them twenty minutes to get there, the snow fall made them lose their sense of direction slightly but eventually they found it. Just as Han reached out to open the door it slid open, and a large green alien shot out, falling into the snow.  
'and stay out slimeball!' came Sia's voice from inside, Anna stepped over the now grumbling alien and made her way inside with Chewbacca and Han.  
'Sia- my old buddy you!' Came Han's greeting, he was so smarmy when he wanted to be.  
'Han Solo!' Sia looked happy to see him, the two men embraced and Anna took down her hood, smiling. 'Anna Carter? It can't be! Look how much you've grown!' he looked at her with wide eyes and she smiled back.  
'It's me alright' she laughed and embraced him also.  
'Woah- I haven't seen you since you were a little girl!' he made a gesture with his hand, representing how small she had been the last time they were there. 'You've grown into quite a beauty! What has it been, eight-nine years?'  
'Nine I think' she smiled at him, although the people were rough, Sia had always been friendly to them.  
'Nine years- doesn't time fly!' he looked at them both and lowered his voice, leaning in closely, 'I suppose you're here to pick up a shipment…'  
'Not exactly Sia' Han started, earning him a surprised look from the older man, 'We're here for some parts, weapons and equipment'  
'What do you need that for?' he laughed, 'waging war on the empire!' but the two ex-smugglers only looked sheepishly at him. 'Woah don't tell me you've gone straight?' he laughed, tapping Han's chest, 'well as straight as you can!'  
'Kind of…' Han chuckled nervously, 'there's a chance you know-'  
'Don't tell me you blew up the death star?' He looked shocked, 'it's all over the galaxy- people are joining the rebellion left right and centre!'  
'Well, we didn't actually do it- but we are part of the team that did' Anna explained.  
'Woohoo!' He exclaimed, catching Anna off-guard, he jumped, 'Drinks are on the house for you two! And Chewbacca of course!' Anna looked at Han and laughed, she did like a drink.

'So we were wondering if we could get a room for a few days' Han asked, when Sia had finished dancing round the bar, pouring several Beevour whiskeys.  
'Absolutely! Room seventeen is free- he pulled an old key off a hook on the wall and threw it across the bar- Han caught it.

They made their way upstairs and concluded that they would venture out tomorrow, to see if they could find Sindal's shop and hoped that she was still doing dealing of salvaged imperial equipment.  
The room was large, it had a small bathroom and two beds. There was a large doubles and a king size, Chewie claimed the king size, being nearly eight feet tall, it was pretty fair meaning Han and Anna would share the double. Han slumped down onto one side of the bed, as Anna slipped off her boots, coat and one jumper- walking over to the heating system, she turned it on and got straight into bed. She was so exhausted from her lack of sleep on the ship that it didn't take her long at all to fall fast asleep.

*BREAK*

Anna woke up the next morning to the sound of Han clattering about the room- there was a water heater and the facilities to make some warm drinks. The heater had given out in the night, so Han had lit the fire, it was dying down but still radiating enough heat to stop Anna from shivering.  
'Morning' she said groggily, sitting up and rubbing her eyes, Han handed her some coffee, she took it gratefully.  
'Morning' he smiled at her and sat on the small sofa across from the bed, 'You spooned me in the night'  
'I did not!' she laughed, and then paused, 'did I?'  
'You did indeed, I think you were cold- the heater had packed in'  
'Ah is that when you lit the fire?' he just nodded, 'don't worry I won't tell Leia' she joked, earning an exasperated look from the smuggler. She sipped on her coffee; it was blissfully warm in her throat and stomach.  
'So, the plan of the day' he sipped on his coffee also, 'we're going to find Sindal and see what she has'  
'What happens if she doesn't have it?' Anna frowned, drinking more coffee.  
'Well then we wait, or we find someone else who does- Sindal's always been good at getting what we need'  
'Okay-' she said slowly, 'we've got to be back at the fleet within the next two weeks- and I don't think I can leave Luke alone for that amount of time anyway' she laughed.  
'Ooh-err' Han wiggled his eyebrows at her.  
'Oh shush, I meant with the squad- he's new to this' she brushed his comment aside.  
'Sure- I believe you' he snickered and Anna just rolled her eyes.  
'Food- we need food' Chewie nodded in agreement and whined slightly.  
'Right' Han agreed- getting up he threw Anna's jumper at her, 'Get dressed'  
Anna pulled the jumper over her, put on her boots and grabbed her coat, they locked the room and trudged down the stairs, out into the cold streets looking for food. A cantina had a light on for breakfast, so they head inside, it was pretty grim- but not the worst establishment the trio had frequented in their time. They crossed the fairly busy room to a booth in the far corner, there were power heaters under the seats blowing hot air onto their legs as they sat down and there were heaters on the wall, close to the roof. Anna felt warm enough to pull off her coat as Chewie slid in next to her, he did that a lot- he was protective over her, and she felt considerable safer when he was around. A waiter came over, he was blue and tall.  
'What can I get for you today, Sir, Madam?' He had a strange accent.  
'The breakfast deal please' Han looked at Chewie and Anna, they nodded, 'times three'

The breakfast was good- it brought back memories of travelling the galaxy with Han, even when they were in the most trouble- they still had time for breakfast. They got up and left the cantina, putting on her coat Anna felt the cold blow through the door, she shivered, wrapping the coat around her even further.  
'Where do you think Sindal will be?' Anna asked him, looking around, the snow had stopped falling but it was still so cold.  
'I think she'll be in the North of town' Han looked towards the small streets that led to the North, 'Come on trouble- lets go' Anna laughed at his statement, rubbing the arm of Chewie they began to trudge through the thick snow.

They eventually reached the small hut they were looking for, it was white on the outside and there were several shutters on the windows. They found the door to the right of the building, it was a slide which gave the hut a strange mixture of old and new, Han pressed the doorbell. There was a shout from inside the house,  
'What do you want?'  
'Sindal- it's me- Han, Han Solo?' Han called back directing the shout to the shutters, there was a shuffle inside and the door slide open. Han looked round at Anna and she just shrugged, the three of them made their way inside. Once they had got inside, down some steps, Anna realised that the outside was a complete façade- the technology that graced the walls and benches of the inside was all completely modern. She spotted some imperial weapons, Stormtrooper helmets, utility belts and as she looked further into the hut- it wasn't quite a hut at all, it was extended into a larger warehouse part it was down a ramp so that the roof was actually at ground level above. There were ships, large weapons and parts of ships, along with speeders and even proton torpedoes, she vaguely remembered this place, she was getting flashbacks of years ago, coming here to fix her ship and the Falcon.  
Anna turned to face Sindal who was stood there, watching the three of them.  
'Han Solo?' She asked peering at him, he nodded.  
'Remember me Sindal?' he smiled, the older woman nodded.  
'I do yes…' she turned to Chewbacca, 'This one I remember, and is this-' she turned to Anna now, 'little Anna?' Anna laughed slightly and nodded. Sindal made her way across the room and took Anna's face in her hands, peering into her eyes.  
'You have grown into such a beauty' Anna smiled in the woman's hands, 'I bet you have to bat the men away'  
'Not really' Anna scoffed thinking about her non-existent love life.  
'You lie- I know' Sindal winked at her and Anna just laughed, releasing her Sindal moved back towards Han. 'What have you come here for- the Falcon playing up again?' Han laughed at her and handed her the list of equipment that they were requiring, she mused through the list. 'You're part of the rebellion now are you?' she raised an eyebrow at him.  
'How does everyone guess that?' Han exclaimed rolling his eyes.  
'Well lucky for you- I have everything that you need'  
'That's great' Han smiled.  
'Ahh- unlucky for you- there are several imperial patrols going on at the moment, and a star destroyer entering the system' she gestured towards the scanner she had on the left wall. Han sighed and Anna looked wide-eyed at him.  
'They followed us!' she felt dread pit in her stomach, 'do you think they've found the fleet?' Han reassured her by putting his hand on her shoulder and shaking his head.  
'They can't have' he said calmly, 'they must have just picked us up in hyperspace- we scanned the areas around the fleet' but Anna wasn't buying it, 'A- even if they had, Luke's got the fighter fleet under control, you know he can protect them' Anna sighed- Han was right and she knew it.  
'It will take me a while to get everything together- here' Sindal handed Han a basic communicator, 'it will buzz when I'm ready for you- what docking bay are you at?' she asked.  
'Twenty-three' Han replied quickly, and put the communicator in one of the pouches on his belt.  
'Do you not want our help, Sindal?' Anna asked the woman, Sindal shook her head.  
'No, no- I have some gentlemen who can help' she smiled and pressed a button, this was to summon them, Anna presumed. 'I will call when all is ready' Sindal bustled them out the door and Anna pulled her hood back up, so did Han.

Han checked the time and then looked at Anna, she sighed- it was going to take them a while to get back to town.  
'Whiskey when we get back?' he asked her.  
'Yep' she started walking, pulling her sleeves down over her hands, _I'd take Tatooine any day._

*BREAK*

Anna had drank several more drinks than she had expected too when they got the communication from Sindal. However, that was also the time that the storm troopers found them- they had been walking to the docking bay.  
'You there! Stop!' came a shout from behind them, Han pushed Anna out of the way and pulled his blaster. She looked up and saw blaster fire shooting past her face, she fumbled with her coat to try and reach the blaster strapped next to her thigh. Han was across from her, in the opposite doorway she was in, Chewie was behind her, Anna's closed around the butt of her blaster- she whipped it out and began firing in the direction of the troopers. Looking around she could see several on the ground and the rest running away.  
'Chewie- Anna!' Han called over, 'you alright?' Chewie howled and Anna nodded.  
'Han- we have to get out of here!' She came out of cover and started running in the direction the troopers had, Han following closely behind.  
'You always run after trouble don't you?' Han called at her- she laughed, hooking the key to their room on Sia's control panel as they ran past. 'Smooth move A- got any ideas of how we're going to get out the system alive?' he shouted, the sentence dripping in sarcasm.  
'I thought that was your job' she retorted, coming to a sudden halt and slipping back around the corner when she saw some troopers by the entrance to the hangar. Tapping Han's arm they moved quietly into shot of the Storm Troopers, and fired, hitting three and making another two run away, they ran to the door and managed to get inside quickly, hitting another three troopers in the process. Stumbling inside, they locked the door and searched around for Sindal.  
'Sindal? You here?' Han called, whilst Anna opened the cargo hold of the ship, then got into the cockpit, taking control of the ship. She peered out of the screen seeing Sindal coming out of the shadows of the docking bay with two men and a lot of machinery, Anna punched the engines so that they could make a quick escape and left the ship to help load her up.  
'Glad you could make it- we ran into some imperial troops' She said to Sindal.  
'I heard' she looked up at Anna, they both pulled one of the proton torpedoes into the ship's cargo hold, 'glad to see you're alright'

Once they managed to get the larger weaponry on board, the containers with the small parts and smaller weapons in were pulled on board by the two men Sindal had brought.  
'Look out!' Han called, the door was being forced open as blaster rounds shot around the hangar, Anna pulled out her blaster, shielding Sindal with her body she pushed her towards the shadows they had hidden in.  
'Stay here- until we've gone' she urgently said to Sindal in a low voice, the two men joining her, she gave her a look of thanks, Sindal putting her hand on the younger woman's face.  
'Be safe you' she smiled, Anna returned the smile, then ran for the ship shooting at some of the storm troopers as that were clambering through the door that was half open, she hit one-blocking the entrance for any others to get through. She was relieved to see Chewie had already closed the cargo hold and was waiting on the ramp for her, she saw Han in the cockpit keying in the coordinates for lightspeed. Firing a few cover rounds at the door, she stumbled up the ramp with Chewie, it closed after them and they rushed to the cockpit, Anna took co-pilot seat and Chewie placed himself behind Han, checking the dials for anything untoward.

Han lifted the ship out of the docking bay, the snow that had been falling slightly was now thick and fast, making visibility pretty difficult. However he managed to reach the inner side of the atmosphere when two TIE fighters swooped in, firing on the ship- he carried on his assent and Anna hopped out of her seat to the firing bay. She clipped herself in and put the head set on, it wasn't unlike the falcon, except it was the only set of guns the ship had that could be used in this way. She located one of the fighters on her targeting computer and fired, blasting it out of the sky.  
Anna breathed a small sigh as they began to leave the atmosphere of the planet, though firing on the second TIE was proving more difficult. The ship jolted as it was hit with blaster fire and Anna struggled to find the fighter onscreen, just then it whizzed past her and she clipped it, sending it hurtling out into space. She looked after it, tumbling out of control and saw a Star Destroyer come into view. _Oh crap._  
'Haaan!' she shouted, rushing to her feet and fleeing to the cockpit, 'We need to jump to lightspeed now!'  
'I saw it- Chewie let's go!' He punched the controls and Anna stumbled backwards at the force of speed they were entering, she thumped herself down in a chair.  
'Just like old times' she laid her head on Han shoulder as he breathed a sigh of relief.  
'You said it, A'

 **Thanks for reading! Have a good day!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello all! Here is chapter 6- it's kind of a strange chapter, I wanted to give the story a bit of down time (and Anna too) so I thought this would be a nice one to put it- anyhoo let me know what you think!**

* * *

It had taken Anna, Chewie and Han twice as long to get back to the fleet than it had taken them to get to the Beevour system. It had proved difficult to shake their Imperial pursuit, but once clear they had managed to get back quite easily, but they knew they were in trouble when they descended the ramp and were met with an angry-faced Leia.  
'Where have you been?' she exclaimed loudly, making General Rieekan jump slightly- he looked over at her.  
'We ran into some trouble' Han held his hands up in surrender, but Leia's face didn't soften at all.  
'Come on Leia- would you have wanted us to bring the Star Destroyer back with us? It's only been just over three weeks- or could you just not live without me for that long?' Anna joked, winking at her, Leia's face softened, her eyes flickered to Han and then back to Anna, smiling and rolling her eyes.  
'Did you at least get what we needed?' She asked, Han strolled over to her, putting his arm round her shoulders.  
'We did indeed- every little bit' he gloated, as Anna pulled off her coat and threw it on a work bench close to the wall. She looked at Rieekan; he was watching Leia and Han in confusion at their bickering, yet affection for each other.  
'Nobody else gets it either, Sir, don't worry' he shot her a thankful glance then turned to her.  
'Commander Carter- I will ask the techs to come and unload the cargo- you are officially off duty for the day' She smiled at the man.  
'Thank you Sir, I'll see you in the morning' then she grinned, leaning into him, 'I'll leave you to sort these two out' she caught his concerned look before leaving the main hangar, for deck four.

Anna thought that it would be likely Luke would still be working with the squadron, she was excited in anticipation of seeing him. She got out of the lift and walked down the corridor to the door to deck four's hangar and peered through the window, she had been right- the squad were working on their ships again, she spied Luke on the far side talking to someone. She pushed the door open and walked over to the squad, Wedge was the first to notice her, jumping down from his ship's ladder,  
'Anna!' he called, her gaze was snapped from Luke, she smiled to Wedge.  
'Hey you,' she tapped his shoulder with her gloves she had removed, she was still in her jumper though.  
'Where have you been?' he asked, 'everyone has been so worried about you' she laughed slightly.  
'We ran into some trouble in the system, some imperials picked up our trail' she rolled her eyes, 'we had to drop in and out of hyperspace to avoid them' she sighed, a few others had gathered round them at that point, listening to her story.  
'Did you see any action ma'am?' asked one of the newer recruits, Erri Tainer, she smiled at him.  
'A little' she grinned, 'some storm troopers seemed to take a dislike to us'  
'Okay- what's going on here- Anna!' Luke had obviously noticed that his squad had stopped working and come to investigate why, when he saw her his face lit up- he moved forward and embraced her tightly.  
'Hey Luke' she smiled to him when he released her, the squad began to disperse and she caught a couple of the men raising their eyebrows at each other. He held her by the shoulders out at arms-length, his eyes scanning over her, she presumed it was to check if she was injured. 'Luke- I'm alright, we all are, we just ran into a star destroyer and didn't fancy bringing it back to the fleet' she smiled at him, and he let her go.  
'Oh- well good' he smiled, 'so Han and Chewie are alright too?'  
'Well Han is currently getting an earful from Leia' she rolled her eyes.  
'It's been quite peaceful without those two arguing' Luke admitted, grinning at her, she sighed.  
'I can honestly say that I fear the day I am stuck on a ship with just those two for company' she rolled her eyes, 'their conversations could end in either a punch or a kiss and nobody can predict which' Luke slightly frowned at this.  
'You think so?' he asked her, _oops,_ she just shrugged and then changed the conversation quickly.  
'So how have you been getting on with everything?' she asked him, Anna could already tell he was growing up- although there was still a sense of innocence about him, he was settled into his commanding role and it seemed to come naturally to him.  
'Well I've been able to clear my head a lot faster now' she smiled at his accomplishment, 'The Force is coming more naturally now'  
'That's great Luke' she encouraged.  
'The squad have been doing really well- they've been renamed as Rouge'  
'Oh they're always changing the names' she rolled her eyes, he chuckled slightly.  
'We've been going through manoeuvres and then training in targeting' he gestured to the far wall, she glanced over and saw a scorch mark, she winced.  
'I guess someone forgot to put a safety catch on?' she turned to face him, he nodded at her.  
'No one got hurt, so all is good I guess' he laughed and she looked at him wide-eyed but laughed.  
'Oh well that's good I suppose!' she exclaimed, jokingly, 'you know, that nobody got vaporised!'  
They both laughed, 'So apart from almost death- what else have you been up to?' he grinned.  
'Not much really- to tell you the truth it's been quite boring without you' he paused, 'and Han and Chewbacca' he smiled, so did she.  
'Aww Luke- you had Leia surely?'  
'Yeah I guess, she was busy a lot of the time' he looked down.  
'She is a bit serious isn't she?' Anna nudged his shoulder and he smiled in spite of himself.  
'I'm not saying anything' he held his hands up, she grinned.  
'Oh gosh- I forgot, it's her Birthday tomorrow!' Anna exclaimed.  
'Really?' Luke asked, surprised, 'it's mine too!' Anna laughed.  
'That's a weird coincidence' she replied, 'the whole of space and you run into two people with the same birthday!'  
'I know, that's odd' he was smiling, probably because he's found something in common with the Princess, whilst Anna was wracking her brain to try and think of something to give her friends. But eventually she had an idea, she just hoped it would work. She talked with Luke for the rest of the afternoon until he told the squad that they had done good work and that he would see them in the morning for their combat training. Combat training had to be carried out every six months or so to keep the skills up of the alliance, should they be unfortunate to have to resort to hand-to-hand combat. Anna's skills were extremely good, but she unfortunately had to take part in the training as well, so did Luke, but lucky for him it was just half a day, and the rest of his birthday could be spent relaxing.  
'Who's taking us for training tomorrow?' she asked Luke, once the squad had left.  
'Commander Sikes' he answered, Anna groaned, 'What is it?'  
'He's got it in for me ever since I put him on his behind last year' he laughed at her comment, 'Luke it's not funny- he'll try and take me down'  
'Aha, sorry Anna- he's so big- how did you take him down in the first place?' she raised an eyebrow at him, 'Uh oh' he said- worried.  
'Do you really want to know?' she asked, a dangerous glint in her eyes, but he took the bait.  
'Sure' he said confidently, 'you do know I can use the Force don't you?' he gloated.  
'Ha- a little overconfident over here I think' she retorted, 'go to attack me' she dared.

He was hesitant at first, pausing for a second, then going in for the attack- she dodged under his arm and caught her arm round his neck, pulling him to the floor gently as not to hurt him.  
'So predictable' she whispered in his ear, it was her turn to gloat, he was almost sat on her knee as she had pulled him down, she let go and he got up quickly.  
'Well I guess you got me there…' he grinned, 'but tomorrow I'll be ready for you' he warned her and she laughed at his mock-serious expression.  
'Come on you fool- I'm hungry' she linked her arm with his, dragging him away from the hangar to the dining hall, where she hoped that Leia and Han were waiting, but not arguing. _I should be so lucky._

She had actually been wrong, Leia and Han were not fighting when she and Luke had sat down for dinner, it was quite late so the canteen was quite empty. Anna sat down with her food, it was some sort of pie with gravy- it was warm, which was all she wanted after the terrible travel food she had endured for the previous two weeks. It seemed Chewie had demolished a lot of the food and was now sitting there patting his stomach in content.  
'Enjoy that, did you?' Anna asked him, he howled, 'it can't be that good' she laughed at Chewie's nodding.  
'Han- good to see you're alright' Luke clapped him on the shoulder and the two men embraced warmly.  
'What's with the jumper, A? Still not acclimatised yet?' Han joked, Anna looked down at her jumper.  
'I hate the cold' she sulked, carrying on with her food, Han laughed at her.  
'Wuss' he mumbled and she kicked him under the table, 'ow- so Luke, I bet you were bored out of your mind without us three here to entertain you' Anna looked at Luke, trying to hide her grin.  
'Not at all- I quite enjoyed it' Luke lied.  
'Gee- thanks a lot kid' Han scoffed, 'You hear that Chewie? I think he's lying' Han smirked as Luke rolled his eyes at him.  
'Leia- how is the hunt for a new planet going? We can't float around forever' Anna asked before the conversation turned into an argument.  
'Actually- we've come across a planet that could be used. They've always been friendly in the past' Leia revealed, Anna raised an eyebrow.  
'It's not cold is it?' Leia laughed, so did Han.  
'No- not at all, it's quite warm actually- from what I can remember'  
'Oh really? Where is it?'  
'Have you ever been to Naboo?' Leia asked.  
'I have yes' she smiled, at the fond memories of the place- her mother had taken her when she was younger.  
'Well it is in that system,' Leia sighed then, 'it's like a cross between Alderaan and Naboo' Anna smiled.  
'Sounds perfect' the two of them looked at each other, allowing themselves a moment to grieve their destroyed home world.  
'Well, General Rieekan wants to see you and Luke about a mission to ask for their allegiance' Luke looked up from his dinner and Anna's mouth had dropped open.  
'Leia- I'm a pilot, a leader, an engineer I'm not a diplomat- there's no way I could take on that task' She protested, but Leia waved her hand to shut her up.  
'Of course you can- don't be silly Anna, or should I say, Ambassador Carter of Alderaan' Anna looked wide-eyed at Anna and Luke.  
'But-what about Luke?' she stammered, Luke looked at Leia.  
'Well, he will be your "bodyguard"' She replied, and Han laughed.  
'More like she's yours kid' He commented, earning a glare from Luke.  
'Well anyway- General Rieekan will brief you in a few days' Leia concluded, trying to move on the conversation.  
'Well that's just great- I've only just got back' Anna grumbled, getting up from the table. 'I'm going to bed- I guess I need to get as much sleep as I can before I'm shipped off again'

Anna saw that Luke seemed pretty hurt by her slight outburst, she didn't even know why she was so grumpy, but she put it down to tiredness. She apologised and left the table, Luke got up to follow her, but Han put a hand on his arm, preventing him, he obviously had seen her like this before.

*BREAK*

Anna woke the next day feeling far more refreshed, and feeling pretty embarrassed about her temper the night before. She put her short hair into a braid, pulling on her training kit, which consisted of a vest and her tight trousers. She was looking forward to taking on Commander Sikes again, the man was about the same age as Han, and after a few drinks, just as cocky.

She had managed to get together two gifts for Luke and Leia, so she stumbled across the hall to Luke's bunk room. Leia had full quarters, being a Princess and all, but she did let Anna spend time there when they were both on down-time. Knocking on his door, it swiftly opened- Luke's face popped out.  
'Happy Birthday!' she exclaimed, earning a wide smile from him.  
'Thank you Anna' he said softly.  
'I have something for you' she pushed past him into his room, so that they wouldn't be seen by anyone.  
'Anna- you didn't have to get me anything' he said, but she brushed off his protests.  
'Don't be silly- of course I did' she replied softly, 'anyway- I didn't actually get it, it was given to me, but you'll actually use it' she smiled- handing him a silver case, he opened it.  
'What is it?' he asked- peering inside, Anna laughed.  
'It's a lightsaber maintenance kit' she smiled, 'you can use it to repair damaged ones, or even build your own'  
'Wow- Anna, thank you so much' he smiled to her, his bright blue eyes shiny down at her, 'where did you get it?'  
'It was my father's' she smiled, 'I think you need it more than I ever would' she laughed slightly. He looked deep into her eyes for a moment, then closed the case, putting it down on his bunk. He turned round and embraced her tightly, once he released her she planted a kiss on his cheek, he blushed slightly. 'Come on- we better get to training' she turned to leave, but Luke tugged on her hand, stopping her, she turned to face him.  
'Thank you Anna- I love it' her face lit up at this and she smiled widely.  
'Don't mention it' she then turned to leave- he followed her out of the room.

She had Leia's present in one of the pouches of her belt, she gave herself a mental note to take it off before she whooped Sikes' butt.

*BREAK*

They had been put through their paces by Commander Sikes, they had started their morning with a three mile run on the treadmills with packs on their back, then they had target lessons, sit-ups, pull-ups and press-ups and then finally they had arrived at the close combat training. Anna had breezed through the first stages of the training, her fitness levels were the best they had ever been and her targeting had always been good. She had admired how Luke also had gotten through the morning with ease, when doing the pull ups she had almost fallen from the bar when she noticed Luke's arms, how in the world he had gotten that muscly on a moisture farm she didn't know and had blushed when he'd caught her staring.

'Commander Carter' Sikes called her name and she moved to the front of the squad, 'are you going to show these fine gentlemen how it's done?' he asked, grinning, she grinned back.  
'Oh you betcha Sikes' he laughed, but it was nervously.  
'So sometimes you will be caught in a situation where neither you, nor your opponent is armed- therefore you will need to know close combat training- firstly Commander Carter and I will show you how it's done, then I will go through the techniques required to beat your opponent' he paused, looked at Anna and said, 'Anna- whenever you're ready' she smiled and gave him a quick nod.

He came at her with a punch, which she dodged swiftly leaning backwards she managed to kick his feet out from under him but before she could move out of the way he caught her ankle- pulling her down with him. Anna stayed calm, she rolled onto her side and managed to get out of his grasp. Sikes jumped to his feet, and Anna mirrored him- they were back where they had started, circling each other. Sikes went for her again, but this time Anna's Force instincts set in- she flipped over him landing just behind him- she pulled on his waist, tugging him down to the floor- she got him into a headlock and whispered.  
'Strike two' she grinned and he growled at her and she let go- leaning in he whispered.  
'What in the hell was that?' she put a hand on his arm, breathing heavily.  
'I have no clue- sorry' she smiled and he patted her shoulder.  
'You can take on Luke then' she laughed looking at Luke- he looked nervous.

Sikes ran through all their exercises before he let them loose on each other- they split off into their pairs, and Luke and Anna were in the far corner of the training room.  
'I think you've been playing down how Force sensitive you are' Luke whispered to her as they stretched ready for their combat. She sighed, straightening to look him in the eye.  
'Luke, I honestly have no idea where that came from- it was just an instinct' he looked doubtful, but she stared him down until he accepted it.  
'Fine- can you teach me?' he asked.  
'If I can figure out how I did it, then sure- but right now, can I just floor you' she grinned, and he grinned back.  
'Oh yeah- and what makes you think it will be that easy?' he stepped back from her ready to fight.  
'What makes you think it won't?' she grinned.  
'Oh I don't know- I'm pretty strong' she rolled her eyes at him.  
'I think you've been spending too much time with Han' she laughed.  
'Then what are you afraid of?'  
'Not a damn thing' she launched herself at him, he dodged her easily and she fell to the floor. She flipped herself upright and managed to get another attack in, this time she caught him- they both fell to the floor. Luke had the upper hand and managed to pin her down to the ground- he was strong, but so was she- she pulled her feet up to his chest and pushed him away with the strength of her legs. He gasped slightly at this move, but it only made him more determined- she got to her feet and ran at him, but he was quicker and managed to flip her onto her back and onto the floor. He followed her movement to the ground and pressed his weight on her slightly, just to let her know he'd won. They both breathed heavily, their faces practically next to each other, Anna laughed, and stretched her neck to plant a brief kiss on Luke's nose.  
'Just because it's your birthday' she smiled, he exhaled heavily.  
'Are you saying that's the only reason I won?' he protested, getting up then offering her a hand, 'because you let me win?'  
'We'll never know- will we?' she teased, knowing full well that she had not let him win.  
'I demand a rematch- Commander' he complained, she rolled her eyes.  
'Maybe another day- _Commander_ ' she laughed, 'I'm off to find Leia- are you coming? You're birthday buddy's remember' she gave the thumbs up to Sikes who waved them off, knowing those two were more than capable.

*BREAK*

They found Leia in the high command's suite, it was a space but Anna rarely used it as she always felt underdressed in there, however it was Leia's birthday- plus Han was in there so she didn't look too scruffy after all.  
'Happy Birthdaaay!' Anna called across the room, Leia looked up and smiled. Anna gave the Princess a tight hug and sat down next to her. 'Did you know its Luke's birthday too?' she said to Leia who nodded.  
'Yes he told me yesterday' she smiled to him, 'Happy Birthday Luke'  
'Happy birthday Leia'  
'This is so weird- you guys are the same age too!' Anna laughed.  
'And both their names begin with an 'L'' Han chimed in, laughing with Anna.  
'Oh Leia!' Anna exclaimed, going to her belt pouch, 'I have something for you' she pulled out a small piece of glass- inside was a flower.  
'Anna' Leia filled up, 'I love it'  
'What is it?' Luke asked.  
'It's a Daska flower, the national flower of Alderaan' Leia explained, Han peered at the gift, and scoffed.  
'It's not as good as my gift, A' Anna rolled her eyes, and Leia elbowed him.  
'Han, you gave me a hug'  
'Han- that's a terrible present' Luke exclaimed, Han looked at him.  
'Aww don't worry kid- I have one for you too' He grinned and walked over to Luke- pulling him into a hug.  
'Han- get off' Luke whined, as Leia hugged Anna tightly whispering a thank you in her ear.

They went deep into the night (not that they could really tell when it was night or day as they were floating through space), for their celebrations. Anna introduced Luke to whiskey, and Leia was already quite accustomed to it- which was surprising to Han and Luke, but not to Anna, who had been the one to give it to her in the first place. Leia had gone on a giggling spree every time Anna had made a joke, so had gone to bed before the rest of them had. When Luke had started with hiccups, Anna had offered to walk him back to his room, so had said a cheery goodnight to Han and Chewbacca and walked with a stumbling Luke to the sleeping quarters.

'Anna- why are the walls spinning? I thought we were on auto-pilot' Anna laughed at him, then shushed herself.  
'You're head is the one that's spinning- not the ship silly' she laughed again, holding him up- _boy he could not hold his liquor._  
'Woah' Luke stumbled, tripping and half falling to the floor, pulling Anna down with him, she fell flat in her face. 'Oh no! Anna are you okay?' Luke shouted and Anna laughed.  
'Shhhhh! I'm fine' she laughed again, they both got up- pulling themselves up on each other. They were nearly at their doors, and they stumbled on. Anna helped him to it, and when the door slid open she tapped his face lightly.  
'Goodnight sweetheart' she said, smiling then twirling around losing her balance slightly- she laughed loudly, then turned back to him 'sshhhh!'. He grinned at her and then she trudged on into her room.

*BREAK*

'So remember- keep calm, and be confident' Leia was giving last minute tips to Anna. It had been three weeks since Leia and Luke's birthday- and Anna and Luke were about to embark on their mission to the Naboo system.  
'Okay- I think I've got this' she smiled at Leia- giving her a hug, 'I'll see you when we get back' she hugged Han and then Chewie, turning to climb the ramp with Luke.

Once they sat down into the cockpit she looked over at Luke, 'Are you ready?' she smiled, Luke sighed.  
'I really hope so' he chuckled softly to her, punching the engines.  
'So do I' her voice was shaky and Luke looked at her- sensing her apprehension, once he was clear of the ship carrier, he took hold of her hand and squeezed.  
'You'll be alright- we both will' he smiled.  
'I'm glad you're coming with me- I have a really bad feeling about this' she said, looking him in the eyes.  
'So do I' he said grimly, still holding her hand, he hit lightspeed.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi everyone! Here's the new chapter, it's a pretty long one, a Luke/Anna chapter. Enjoy! And please read and review!**

* * *

The buzz of lightspeed had always thrilled Anna, but when it came to week-long journeys she couldn't bare it. After so many years of travelling around space, one would be mistaken in thinking that she would be used to it, but the truth was- she could never sleep properly, or at least not for long periods of time. So that was why she was awake, staring out of the cockpit screen into the deep depths of space, whilst Luke was snoring on one of the bunks near the back of the ship.  
Artoo had wheeled himself into her, and beeped cheerily.  
'We have a couple more days of this buddy' she said, quietly, patting the droid on the head.  
She looked back out into the darkness that was lightspeed and resolved to practice her mindfulness, in the several days that they had been travelling Luke and Anna had been partaking in more training. He was getting more confident with his object movement, and he was teaching Anna how to use the Force to control her actions- the ways in which Ben had told him about and taught him before Vader had killed him. Once in her meditated state Anna was in a strange mixture, she was both hyper-aware and zoned out, but she was completely relaxed. She felt movement in the back of the ship and sensed Luke getting out of bed and walking towards the cockpit, she opened her eyes when he entered, smiling to him.

'Can't sleep?' he asked her, she shook her head.  
'When can I ever?' she laughed softly, 'what got you up?' she looked over at him, he was barefoot and his hair was slightly sticking up from sleep.  
'I don't know- I could just sense you were awake and thought you might want some company' he smiled.  
'Aw Luke, you didn't have to do that- I'm fine honestly' she smiled, but he shook his head.  
'Well too late- I'm up now' she grinned at him.  
'Fine' she sighed, leaning side-ways in her chair she looked at him upside down, 'what do you want to talk about?' He just shrugged, as they both wracked their brains for something they hadn't already talked about. 'What are womp rats?' she asked Luke, raising an eyebrow, 'I've never been on Tatooine long enough to come across one'  
'Well you're lucky' he laughed slightly, 'they're fairly large rodent creatures with sharp teeth and claws and a long tail- they eat everything and give nasty bite'  
'Ew they bite people?' she was shocked, but he laughed.  
'Never heard of one biting a human, but they did go after smaller prey- sometimes even Jawas' Anna raised her eyebrows, they sounded horrible, she shuddered.  
'Well I'm glad they didn't have those on Alderaan' he smiled to her.  
'So what did you do when you were younger? I can't have been the only one who was bored' he laughed, so did she, but hers was nervous.  
'Aha- Luke you are so much more innocent than me- I used to gamble' she admitted, sighing, 'and drink' she laughed, as he raised his eyebrows.  
'What did you gamble?' she smiled at his innocent question.  
'Anything really- mostly credits, Han was worse' she laughed.  
'Really?' he was intrigued.  
'Yeah- I was there when he won the Falcon'  
'He didn't buy it?' Luke frowned- confused.  
'We are talking about the same Han Solo, right?' she gave him a look, 'of course he didn't buy it! No, we have a friend- is he a friend? I don't know, anyway, he's called Lando- he won it off somebody and then Han won it from him' she explained.  
'Ah I see' Luke mused, 'why don't you think he's a friend?'  
'It's hard to say in the _scoundrel_ business' she laughed, 'he did ask me to marry him though' she rolled her eyes.  
'What?' he exclaimed, she looked at him.  
'It was before I went to the Alliance' she smiled, 'I was sixteen and he asked me to marry him when I turned twenty-one' she laughed at the lunacy at the whole affair.  
'What did you tell him?' he asked, eyes wide.  
'Oh I said yes' she said, bluntly- he was taken aback.  
'Really?' he exclaimed.  
'Of course not, silly' she rolled her eyes, 'I ran away' he laughed at her sheepish grin.

Anna shifted in her seat and put her feet up on the control panel, they chatted for a while, it must have been a couple of hours, because Anna eventually slipped into a light sleep.

*BREAK*

'Anna?' Luke called, she was getting ready for their _diplomatic visit_ she put a light blue jacket over her cream tunic and put her blaster in the holster next to her thigh. Luke came through the doorway and she looked at him.  
'What's up?' she asked, pulling on her boots, over her black leggings.  
'We're coming up on the Naboo system' she nodded, and watched him as he also pulled a jacket on, he then reached for his lightsaber.  
'I wouldn't if I were you' she warned, 'I don't have a great feeling about this place, and you really don't want that falling into Imperial hands' he nodded.  
'Where should I keep it?'  
'Artoo?' she called, he beeped to let his presence know, 'can you open your holding compartment?' he did.  
'Ah- that's clever' he popped the weapon inside the droid and smiled to Anna, she quickly pinned her short braids up out of the way- mirroring one of Leia's many hairstyles, and headed into the cockpit with Luke.

She sat down and took control of the ship- they were entering the atmosphere of the planet, Noalea, Luke sat down next to her, clicking off the switches they wouldn't need. Taking a deep breath Anna started the decent, it was a smooth one, reaching the outer atmosphere they escorted to a landing station by two smaller ships.

'Noalea one, what is your request for landing?' came the transmission, through the radio.  
'We're requesting landing of the Aldraanian ambassador- to speak in negotiations with the King' Anna had replied, coolly, but shaking on the inside.  
'Permission to land accepted- please follow the escort' Anna had raised her eyebrows at Luke, and on seeing his expression, they both had been surprised that it had been that easy.

Anna flew low over a huge lake, which had a glass tunnel down the middle leading to a large glass citadel from a landing pad and she assumed that was their destination.  
'Please land on the pad below, and enter the city via the tunnel' came the instructions from their escort, who had dispersed once Anna had begun landing proceedings. The ship had landed smoothly, and Anna took a moment to breathe, before unstrapping herself from her seat and standing up to face Luke.  
'Are you alright?' Luke asked, concern written all over his face, Anna sighed.  
'I'll be fine' she smiled, 'I could do with a drink though' she muttered.  
'Okay- shall we do this then?' he asked her, smiling, she nodded.

They both made sure the ship was shut down before leaving the cockpit and lowering the ramp to exit. As the lamp was lowering Luke took Anna's hand and she embraced him, they hugged tightly for a moment and then released each other in order to set off walking.  
'Good luck' she whispered, he looked over to her and whispered back.  
'We'll be alright' she wasn't too sure about that, the unease was sat heavily in her stomach.

They walked along the glass tunnel, Anna's small, chunky heels clicking loudly in the silence, she looked around- the planet was truly beautiful. There was a pink tinge to the sky, the sun was low and one of Noalea's three moons was beginning to rise in the North, the citadel they were walking towards was made of almost pure glass which gave it a look of crystals rising out of the green forests surrounding the buildings. She looked over at Luke, whose dirty blonde hair looked almost red in the setting sun's rays.  
'This tunnel will be a nightmare to escape down' she muttered to him, he chuckled softly.  
'I'm sure we won't have to escape' he tried to reassure her, but it didn't help, nothing could when she was in this mood. Anna was stubborn, and although it took her a long time to get wound up, her temper was fiery and would catch many people in the crossfire. This is why she refused to let herself be calmed by Luke, she knew she should, but she didn't want to.  
'Hmm, I doubt that very highly' she retorted, Luke left her.

They reached the end of the tunnel, and climbed the steps up into the great lobby of the main building, it was grand; a glass floor which was mirrored to see the huge chandelier that hung above them. Coming towards them were a group of humans, they were dressed in fine robes that trapesed on the floor, Anna took a deep breath and smiled.  
'Welcome, Ambassador' a man in a long red robe said, arms outstretched in a welcoming way, 'You must be tired after your long journey- I am Oola Wezz hand to the King'  
'It is a pleasure to meet you Sir' she shook his hand warmly, 'I am Anna Carter- Ambassador from Alderaan' she met his eyes, they were purple.  
'Ah- yes' he looked sorrowful; 'I mourn the passing of such a beautiful planet' Anna looked down.  
'Thank you Sir'  
'And whom is this?' Oola gestured to Luke.  
'I am Luke Skywalker, Sir- bodyguard of the ambassador' Oola looked thoughtful for a moment.  
'Skywalker?' the man raised an eyebrow, eyeing Luke, 'Well, I can assure you, you won't be in need a bodyguard here, my lady' Anna plastered a smile on her face.  
'Oh I'm sure, never the less, Mister Skywalker here is a good friend and companion' her pulse was raised, her stomach churning.  
'Well- I hear that you request an audience with the King?' Anna nodded at his question, 'his majesty has ordered a dinner for this evening and of course rooms for tonight- you must be tired and hungry after your long travels'  
'We are indeed' she replied, walking with the man as he spoke to her- Luke remained at her shoulder, 'It is very kind and generous of his majesty to offer such hospitality to strangers'  
'Ah, generosity is what builds a perfect planet, my lady' the man replied, she cringed internally- what a line, 'You will of course have to change before dinner with the King- we have laid out some garments in your quarters, if you will follow me' Anna turned and raised an eyebrow to Luke, who just looked at her. _I really wish we could do that mind speak thing my mother told me about._

The followed Oola down a long (yes- glass) corridor, to a lift, which took them up to the top floor of the large building, Anna could see over the lake and to their ship.  
'Here are your quarters, my lady' Oola pressed a button, which slid the door open.  
'Thank you, Sir' she nodded her head at him and he left with a smile.  
Anna and Luke stepped inside, the rooms were beautiful; one of the walls was completely made of glass and the room was centred by a large bed, with a long sofa opposite, Luke pointed to the bed.  
'Ah' he exhaled, Anna sighed too.  
'I know right' she exclaimed, 'what the hell is this?' she pulled up a black dress that had been laid on the bed, 'I hate it' she frowned.  
'I meant there is only one bed' Luke sighed looking at her.  
'Oh' she paused, 'its okay- I'll sleep here' she moved across to the sofa and tapped it.  
'You will not' Luke huffed, 'I will' she rolled her eyes at him.  
'We really don't have to worry about this right now- it's this I'm worried about!' she held up the dress, looking uncomfortable.  
'I'm sure you'll look great Anna' she, once again, rolled her eyes.  
'Thanks Luke but that's not what I'm getting at' she smiled to him, 'Don't you see what they're doing? They're getting us out of our own clothes- to make us feel uncomfortable'  
'Oh' he looked puzzled, 'you don't just think they want us to look presentable for their King?'  
'Maybe, I don't know' she put the dress back down on the bed, and sat down on the sofa, Luke sat next to her, 'I just can't shake this feeling' Luke put his hand on hers.  
'I know' he said softly, 'me neither, but we just have to try'  
'Alright' she sighed, going over to the wardrobe in the far corner of the room, 'eugh- who wears that for bed?' she held up a long silk nighty, with lace at the top. 'You'd just slide right out of bed!' he laughed at her, and she went digging for shoes to match her dress. 'It's really creepy they have our sizes and stuff'  
'Maybe they scanned out ship for our lifeforms- you get clothes sizes and all sorts from some scanners' he offered, she nodded.  
'Hmm I suppose that's possible- still creepy though' she smiled, grabbing the dress she went into the bathroom, 'I'm just changing Luke' she called in explanation.  
'Alright- I will too'

Anna looked at herself in the mirror; the dress was long with long sleeves, a cowl neck and it was backless. She could honestly say she had never worn a more lavish gown than this one, the black silk clung to her curves and was loose where it needed to be. She left her hair the way it was, but used some of the make-up provided (yes they even put make-up in their room- creepy) to freshen up her face, shadowing her eyes slightly and reddening her lips she sighed and slipped on her shoes. She felt pretty, she couldn't help it, no matter how much she wanted to hate the dress, once she had put it on she had fallen in love with it- she felt like a princess. The only problem was, she could not conceal her blaster anywhere on her person.  
'Hey Luke?' she called, rounding the corner from the bathroom, into the main bedroom.  
'Yeah?' he replied, looking up at her, he stopped- wide-eyed.  
'What's wrong?' she asked, she looked at him- he was very handsome; he was wearing a white shirt and black trousers, his tan still there from Tatooine and his blue eyes shone.  
'You look beautiful' he said, she blushed slightly.  
'Ah well- I try' she joked, smiling, 'Thank you- you don't scrub up so bad yourself' she laughed. 'Do you have anywhere to put this?' she held up her blaster, 'because I don't really have anywhere'.  
Luke looked at her dress for a moment, then shook himself, 'Erm I don't think so- I have mine though- so it should be alright?'  
'I guess' she placed it on the bed, 'Now all I have to do is try and walk in these, whilst not stepping on my dress' she laughed. Luke eased himself down onto the sofa- looking very tired, she sat next to him crossing her legs.  
'I hope the food is good' she said.  
'Me too- not that I'm not all for the rebellion, but ration food can get so boring after a while' she grinned.  
'Oh absolutely- If there is steak I'm in trouble- I might eat yours as well' she warned, laughing.  
'Ha- no way that thing is mine' she smiled to him, and then yawned, she laid her head on his shoulder.  
'I may fall asleep on you' she sighed, apologetically, he shifted slightly to give her more comfort.

She did close her eyes for a few minutes, slipping into a light dose, so did Luke as she felt the pressure of his head on hers. They were pulled awake however, by a sharp knock on their door, they got up and opened it.  
'My lady, Sir' Oola said, 'please follow me'

They followed Oola down the corridor that they had approached their room, but when they got to the lift they went a completely new way, Anna took Luke's hand as they were walking- she was afraid and she knew he could feel it. He squeezed her hand quickly when they reached a group of people, a few of them she recognised from their greeting party, then let go. A man in a long purple robe and a crown, was at the forefront of the group, Anna assumed this was the King, so she bowed herself in a genuflection.  
'Your majesty' she said quietly, and felt Luke also bowing next to her, 'thank you for your generosity and welcome'  
'It is no trouble my lady- it is an honour to entertain an ambassador from such a prestigious planet- my people and I mourn your loss'  
'Thank you, your majesty' the man bowed in response, he was fairly tall, stout and had dark hair with green eyes.  
'Please, follow me' he gestured to a huge doorway as the doors opened, leading into a massive dining hall. Luke and Anna followed the King to the far end of the table, they were seated either side of the royal, in large chairs and the other members of the party were seated next to the two of them. Waiters brought out large plates of food, it was steak, of what meat she didn't know, but still- steak. Anna looked up at Luke, raising an eyebrow and biting her lip to stop a smile, he too, was trying to stifle one. The King had missed their bemused looks, thankfully and had begun drinking from his wine goblet, he set it down and looked at Anna.  
'What are you here for?' he asked her, she tried not to choke on wine due to the bluntness of his questioning, she swallowed and placed the goblet on the glass table.  
'Well, your majesty' she began the story she had rehearsed with Leia, 'on returning from the imperial senate we discovered the destruction of Alderaan, we tried to return to the senate to demand a reason from the Empire but it had already been dissolved- we had nowhere to go'  
'Who dissolved the senate?' Asked the King, although she knew he already had that answer.  
'The emperor, My lord' she replied, 'permanently'  
'Ah- I see' he began to eat, Luke had also started, so she picked up her cutlery, 'So' the king said between mouthfuls, 'what have you been doing since then? I mean it has been several months since the destruction of your planet' The man was harsh and Anna had to wince internally- he was probing for weaknesses.

'I have been working with the rebellion against the empire' she put it bluntly, and tried not to smile at the look of shock on his face, she kept eye contact and waited for his reply. He chewed his meat and then swallowed, taking a drink before her replied, Anna never lowered her eyes.  
'Congratulations on your recent victory then' he was playing her and she could tell, 'but how am I to help?' Now it was her turn to delay, placing her goblet down, she sighed.  
'I- and the rebellion, would like your help' she paused, allowing him to stop her, but he didn't, 'we have been hunted from all corners of the galaxy… we need a planet, a base' she again paused.  
'Go on' he waved his hand, still eating, but looking at her.  
'We felt that considering your history of cooperation with Alderaan, and of course Naboo, in the old republic, we thought that we could count on you for allegiance?' the King exhaled and let out a short laugh, she panicked but remained cool.  
'You are not old enough to remember the Old Republic my dear,' he patronised her.  
'Indeed, but my mother told me many stories' she said softly, 'she served the queen of Alderaan, and Senator Amidala of Naboo before the rise of the empire'  
'Why, may I ask, did she serve both the queen of Alderaan, and the senator?' Anna sighed, this part was actually true.  
'She advised the Queen, but the Queen's husband worked in the senate, Senator Organa' Anna paused, and saw Luke look up at her when she mentioned Leia's father's name, 'she felt that her skills could help the senator, so she travelled with him, when she met Senator Amidala they apparently had a special bond' Anna smiled, remembering the way her mother spoke of her 'they apparently worked very well together, especially when the trouble started.'  
'Your mother helped form the Alliance?' the King raised an eyebrow, Anna was stunned for a moment, she had never thought of her role like that, she blinked.  
'I- I suppose she did, yes' she was shocked at her own realisation.  
'Hmm' the King touched his lips, 'it's a pity it didn't end very well' this statement felt like Anna had just been punched in the gut. She looked down, knowing how the death of Senator Amidala had crushed her mother, not only had Darth Vader killed her husband, but also a woman whom she admired very much. Anna's mother, in an evening where she had been feeling particular resentment of the Empire, had told her the full story- which was even more tragic. Padmé had been pregnant, just like her mother, and Darth Vader killed her, this only fuelled Anna's hatred of the empire, and moreover Darth Vader, she supposed it was only inevitable that she joined the rebellion.  
'It is unfortunate that she died in such a way' the King added, Anna's blood began to boil- how could he be so nonchalant and casual about it? She moved her hands from the table top, to clench on her knees, and used the Force to calm herself.  
'It is indeed my lord' she looked at the man, he was playing her, gauging her reactions and she didn't like it, they continued to eat in silence.

'Well,' the King sighed, leaning back after his meal and the entertainment of Anna's story, 'I might be able to help you' Anna looked at him and smiled, 'but I will have to consult my advisors- we shall meet again tomorrow afternoon'  
'That is very gracious of you- thank you my lord' she smiled again, the man just nodded.  
He pushed his chair back and got up, turning around and leaving the room. The advisors followed suit, and suddenly Anna and Luke were alone. Luke began to speak, but Anna held a finger up in a gesture that meant for him to stay silent, she looked around, and sure enough Oola came creeping out of the shadows near a far wall.  
'Are we ready to retire for this evening, my lady?' he asked her, she smiled to him.  
'I think so, Sir, thank you' getting up, she made a lot of effort not to step on her dress. Luke made his way around the table and walked next to her.

Oola walked them to their room, before leaving them to open the door alone, Anna peered down the corridor to make sure he was gone before sliding the door shut. Anna turned to Luke and let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding, he looked at her.  
'We're being played, Luke' she whispered in concern.  
'Hmm- I think you're right' she crossed back over to the door and tried to slide it open- it was locked.  
'It's locked' she said in horror, 'Luke, we're trapped her' He rushed over to her, also trying to open the door. It was no use, she slumped on the door, sliding down and sat on the floor. She pulled her shoes off and looked up at him, as he joined her on the floor. 'I'm going to kill Leia' she laughed, 'if we get out of here alive' she muttered, Luke took her hand.  
'We'll get out of here' his optimism was encouraging, but sweetly naïve.  
'I hope you're right' she said softly, not wanting to argue.  
'Was that true?' Luke asked, 'about your mother?' she looked into his eyes and sighed.  
'All of it' she admitted, 'she was devastated at the rise of the empire- seeing what good the senate could have done, it broke her'  
They sat in silence for a while, Anna looked out the window to planet they were trapped on- it really was beautiful. She got up and walked to the large window, looking out at the moons, and stars- it was so peaceful. _Not such a bad place to die, I guess_ she thought, sighing she undid her hair.  
'If we're going to try and make it out of this place, then I think we should get some sleep' she said to Luke, he nodded- getting up from his position by the door. 'Wait- where are our clothes?' she looked around trying to spy them, they were gone.  
'I don't know' Luke looked too, but they had been taken.  
'Ugh' she was not happy. Anna pulled the nightgown she had mocked earlier, out of the wardrobe, rolling her eyes at it, she felt around- her hand fell on some kind of long woollen cardigan, she pulled that out too. Anna walked to the bathroom to change, she slipped out of her dress, splashing water on her face she cleaned off her make-up, investigating the bathroom more- she found toothbrushes, so brushed her teeth. Then she dressed in her night gown, and pulled the cardigan-robe on herself, tying it up. Luke looked up at her when she entered the room again.  
'This is nicer than any dress I've owned- and it's for bed' she slapped her arms down at her side, pointing at the silk bedding, she sighed, 'what is this place? Do they have a deal with silk and glass traders or something?' he chuckled softly at her.  
'I have no idea' he smiled, grabbing some clothes and also going into the bathroom, she watched him go, then went over an opened another cupboard. There were blankets and pillows in one, she grabbed some and began laying it out on the sofa, she turned off the lights, until there was only one dim one that ran in a thin line above the large bed. She took of her robe, glad that Luke wasn't in the room to see her nightdress and settled herself down on the sofa pulling the blankets around herself. Luke came back in then, looking at the bed first, and then spotting her on the sofa.  
'Anna- I said I'd sleep there' she rolled her eyes, looking at him she smiled.  
'I'm fine here' he just stared her down.  
'Nope- you're the lady, you get the bed' he persisted, but she just laughed, 'you're an ambassador remember' he grinned at her, and bowing.  
'Aha- now I'm going to be stubborn' she pulled the blanket up on her and turned over, putting her back to him.  
'Two can play at that game' he growled, and before she had chance to turn and protest- he picked her up off the sofa.  
'Luke!' she gasped, but he threw her down on the bed, turning over she glared at him. 'well that's unfair'  
'You were being stubborn' he grinned.  
'Fine' she pulled the blanket from her, bunching it up, she threw it at him, 'I'll get you back' she couldn't help but smile at him.  
'I'd like to see you try' he warned, playfully- she rolled her eyes.  
'Luke-' she paused, he turned from making his bed up on the sofa to look at her.  
'Mmmhmmm?' she looked him in the eye and smiled, sighing- she stopped what she was going to say.  
'Sleep well' he smiled.  
'You too Anna' she waited until he shuffled into his make-shift bed, then switched off the light.

Anna turned over, pulling the soft covers up onto her shoulder, she stared out of the window at the night sky- she willed sleep to take her, but it was no use.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed- thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**OH MY GOODNESS! Its Star Wars week! I am so excited!  
I thought that I'd mention that whatever happens in the Force Awakens I will be still writing this fic the way I had originally planned (not just because most of it is already written...) and then I can work any other details in at a later date- but that's not much of a problem yet. **

**Thank you to the lovely guests,** **(Admiralsarah) for the reviews and for all you guys for following and favouriting this story- it means a lot :)**

 **I hope you enjoy- please R &R **

* * *

Anna heard Luke get up out of bed, she shifted herself up onto her elbow- she was illuminated by the light of the three moons.

'Can't sleep?' she whispered softly, he turned round from his pacing and looked at her.  
'No' he shook his head, perching himself on the side of her bed, 'worried' he explained, she nodded.  
'Me too' she sat up, and moved over so that he could actually sit on the bed without fear of falling off.  
'Are you scared?' he asked softly, sitting opposite to her on the bed. She looked at him for a moment, and asked herself the same question, the answer was no- she'd been running from an empire and bounty hunters most of her life, so if she was finally facing it, then she was ready.  
'I'm not afraid' she smiled, 'bring them on' she looked at him, 'you okay?'  
Luke nodded, and smiled at Anna, her eyes were adjusted to the night light, but she could only just see his face.  
'What do you think Han and Leia are doing right now?' he asked her, looking out of the window.  
'In all honesty- probably arguing' she smiled, hoping that she would see her friends again.  
'Aha- yes I think you're right' he let out a small laugh.  
'She's a temperamental one- but I love her like a sister' Anna leaned back against the headboard, still smiling.  
'She's really great' he said- wistfully, Anna looked at him.  
'If you're going after her- I'll give you warning, so is Han' she chuckled, but Luke was silent. 'Luke?' she asked, hoping she hadn't upset him.  
'Yeah?' he mumbled.  
'Are you alright?' she asked him, peering through the darkness, trying to see his face.  
'I'm fine Anna' he said quietly, getting up off the bed. He began to pace in front of the window again, she pulled the covers off herself and got out of bed- the floor was cold on her feet.  
'What is it?' she asked him, he turned around to carry on pacing, but she was in his way.  
'Well, you know Leia- do you think-'he paused, looking awkward, 'do you think she'd go for someone like me?' he asked tentatively, she felt kind of hurt at this- but she knew that Luke liked the princess, it was so obvious. She blinked, she didn't want to crush him, but she knew that Leia most definitely liked Han, she sighed.  
'I don't know Luke- I'm sorry' she lied, she felt terrible, it seemed like it was his first crush.  
'I guess you're hoping to see Giles again right?' he asked her, she felt anger flash through her.  
'Luke- I told you- nothing is going on' she snapped, walking away from him.  
'Sorry- Han told me you liked him a lot' he said weakly.  
'What?' she turned to glare at him,  
'He said you told him you really liked him' she laughed _the bastard._  
'Ooh the bugger' she said- gritting her teeth.  
'It's not true?' he asked her.  
'No of course not' she rolled her eyes, 'If I ever get out of here I'm going to strangle Han- he's always stirring things up' she laughed, she really hoped she would see Han again- she loved him dearly.  
'Oh- I'm sorry I brought it up' he muttered, he looked down at the floor, and she smiled.  
'Has Han been telling you anything else I should know about?' he looked over to her, and frowned.  
'Is it true you got drunk and kissed a Gank bounty hunter?' he asked her.  
'I don't want to talk about it' she said quickly lowering her gaze, Luke laughed.  
'Why do you continue to drink if you end up doing stupid things?' he asked her, she just grinned.  
'Because I'd rather do a stupid thing drunk and have something to blame it on, than a stupid thing sober' he nodded at her strange attempt at logic and she laughed at him. 'Besides, life is a lot more fun when you can have a few laughs'

They both sat on the bed, and talked for hours, their nerves subsiding as they laughed and joked about a whole range of things. The topic that was most popular was stupid things done whilst drunk, and Han had been the best example of this (including a time he played the drums on sleeping storm trooper heads- it was hilarious until they woke up). Luke had fallen asleep about an hour before the sun began to rise, he was asleep on her leg, so she hadn't dared move for fear of waking him. Anna looked out and watched the sun rise- it was so peaceful and beautiful she almost forgot their immediate danger, she laid her head back on the headboard and began to dose off.  
It had felt like a long time, but it mustn't have been, because the sun was still in a very similar position to what it had been the last time she looked at it, Luke was beginning to stir and wake up which had drawn her out of her dose also. The low sun's rays shot into their room, basking them in a deep yellow haze, Luke looked up at Anna and smiled.  
'I didn't mean to fall asleep on you- sorry' he looked guiltily at her, but she smiled back.  
'Don't be silly- you're fine' he continued to look at her though, she smiled awkwardly at him, 'what is it?' she asked, he shook himself.  
'Nothing' he replied coolly, getting up and stretching. Anna did the same, looking at the cupboard with all the answers she grabbed a couple of towels- throwing one to Luke she asked him;  
'Do you want the first shower?' he shook his head, looking awkward, 'are you okay?' she asked, puzzled.  
'I'm fine- you go ahead' she frowned, and nodded. _Weird_ she thought, turning to go to the bathroom and shower. She paused at the wardrobe, finding some clothes that were similar to her own and a navy blue jumper- she continued on her way to shower.

*BREAK*

Anna paced the room, pulling the sleeves of her jumper down over her hands to combat the early morning chill. Luke was sat on the sofa, practicing his mediation, Anna smiled at him- he was doing so well.  
'What are you smiling at?' he asked her, his eyes still closed- Anna frowned.  
'Aww Luke you ruined it by being creepy' she laughed, as he opened his eyes and grinned.  
'You can do that stuff too right?' he asked her, but she didn't think she could.  
'I don't think so Luke…' she doubted, but his face was optimistic.  
'Sure you can- here' he took her hands and they both sat down, crossed legged on the floor facing each other. 'All I do is close my eyes, and relax- the way you taught me, but then with the Force- reach out' she watched him as he paused for a second, he had his eyes closed, 'it's like it sees for you- it sounds stupid- just give it a try' he shook her hands and then let go.  
Anna sighed, closing her eyes she pushed everything out of her brain, she let go of her fear and anxiety and willed the Force to take hold. It worked, she was completely at peace, so she started to reach out- like long fingers and branches, the Force spread out across the room. She could see Luke, he was watching her with a soft, hopeful expression, she brushed the Force against him and saw him smile, then she went further extending it out, across the room and beyond. She saw the glass corridor outside the room, and further down she heard footsteps, rounding the corner she saw guards coming. Anna's eyes flashed open; 'Someone's coming' she whispered to him, they both got up off the floor.  
They both stared at the door, she felt fear swell within Luke so she reached out and took his hand loosely. She heard the door click and it slid open, revealing Oola who was flanked by four armed guards, she looked at his face- it was almost apologetic.  
'The King would like to see you both' he said in a weakly authoritarian way, Anna nodded.  
'What's with the troopers Oola?' she asked him, 'we're not going to hurt you'. He ignored her question and turned, 'Please follow me', she and Luke confidently walked after him, the guards following closely behind them. Luke and Anna's little fingers were still intertwined when they reached a large room, Anna assumed it was the throne room- due to there being a large throne and not a lot else. She let go of Luke's hand when the King strolled in, he was (of course) wearing a silk robe, and when he sat down she peered at the throne, rolling her eyes at the realisation that it was made of glass.  
'You're here because you want us to help with the Rebellion against the Empire?' the King asked, raising an eyebrow- he knew that this was true, so rather than lie, Anna stood up straight and confidently. His expression was one of condescension, and Anna didn't like being treated like a child, she glowered at him and smiled defiantly.  
'You know that is why we are here' her voice rang high in the silence, filling the large room, the King let out a small laugh, looking to the right of him. A Commander of the Empire stepped out of the shadows with four storm troopers, Anna's smile only widened, _so predictable._  
'Lord Vader will be most pleased to see that two young rebels have so easily fallen into this trap, me-' he paused, for added effect, _ooh someone play some sinister music_ she thought, feeling Luke stifle a laugh beside her, 'I would have hoped for better, especially from someone as talented as Skywalker'. He smiled evilly at them, _gosh- give this guy a cape,_ she again caught Luke trying not to laugh, _am I projecting?_ She thought, and was surprised when Luke answered, _you are indeed._ She looked over to him with wide eyes; _that's kind of cool, also a tad creepy,_ she sent, and saw him grin.  
'Cease them both' the Commander exclaimed, and Anna rolled her eyes as she was led from the throne room with a storm trooper at each arm.

Luke and Anna were led down into the depths of the citadel, they were pulled along a large corridor and placed in conjoining cells, the doors closed behind them. Out of the window of the cell, Anna could see they were under the steps that had taken them from their landing pad walkway, to the main building, she could even make out the shape of their ship all the way across the lake. Sighing she sat down, looking around the cell, it was unfortunately one of the only things that wasn't glass in the whole damn planet. She heard far off voices, Anna got up from her seat and pressed her ear close to the whole in the door.  
'We will keep them here over night and transport them up to the star destroyer in the morning' the commander was instructing three storm troopers that had been left to guard them. She sat back down, trying to come up with a plan to get them out of there.

*BREAK*

Anna was wide awake, she had seen the sun set and the moons rise again, and felt the storm troopers drift off into a light sleep. This was her chance. She had spotted an air conditioning vent above her- it ran the length of the cells, so getting into it would take her over Luke's cell. She got up onto the bench in her cell and pushed on the covering- it came away easily and she pushed it to one side carefully. She pulled her way up into the vent and slid the panel back into place, the tunnel was really dark and Anna had forgotten how much she hated small spaces. With a deep breath she pulled herself along until she came to the next covering, she peered down and spied Luke asleep on the bench. She pulled the cover across, and rolled her eyes at the fact he hadn't noticed.  
'Luke!' she whispered, he stirred, but was still asleep, 'Luke!' she tried again. It was no use, he was out like a light, so she thought she'd try her newly discovered talent. ' _LUKE!_ ' she bellowed into his head, his eyes flew open and he fell off his bench onto the cell floor. Anna tried to stifle her laugh, but a small giggle made its way out, looking up- finally he had spotted her, 'Come on you damn fool- we haven't got all day!' she whispered, holding an arm out for him. He shook himself and took her hand, climbing up into the vent with her, they were squashed very close together, their noses almost touching. Trying to refrain from awkwardness, and failing miserably, Anna whispered, 'Hi' Luke smiled at this, trying to tug his arms out from under himself, putting them either side of her.  
'What's the plan?' he whispered back, she rolled her eyes.  
'To try and get out of here without drawing too much attention to ourselves' she explained, then reached past Luke, bashing him on the head accidently, 'sorry' she muttered, still stretching to grab the vent cover from the other side of the hole in the tunnel. She got her fingers round it but realised she had to face the other way so that she could pull it, grunting slightly, she rolled over under Luke who had pushed himself up on his arms to allow her movement. She pulled the cover over the vent hole, and relaxed just as Luke's arms gave way and he landed on top of her, she lay there momentarily, pinned down by his body. 'Well this is awkward' she whispered, letting out a quiet, nervous laugh.  
'Sorry Anna' he shifted upwards again and she crawled out from under him and carried along down the vent, she stopped at each cover to see where they were and continued when it wasn't the right spot. When they came across the corridor that she remembered led off from the main entrance they had come in via, she pulled the cover out the way. She looked it horror as it slipped out of her hands and fell to the glass floor with a huge crash, she pulled herself back inside of the vent, trying to conceal herself from any guards that may have been down the corridor. Closing her eyes and reaching out with the Force she felt the presence of two storm troopers, she opened her eyes and saw that one was peering inside the vent. _Ugh sod this for a game of soldiers_ she thought, jumping out of the vent on top of one of them. She took him out with a blow to the head, grabbing his blaster she shot the second one who hadn't shaken his bewilderment fast enough.  
'Come on Luke!' she called, knowing that the blaster fire will have resulted in any other troops or guards being alerted to their escape plans. He jumped out of the vent hole and she passed him the second troop's blaster, giving the first one another kick to the head securing his unconsciousness, they began to run. They were in the grand entrance which for now was still empty, it wouldn't be for long, they darted down the steps and began to run down the long tunnel.  
'Aww damn- I told you this thing would be a nightmare to escape down' she laughed grimly, Luke just looked at her. They carried on running until something sharp hit Anna's left thigh, she cried out in pain and fell to the floor, she slid along the glass with the force she had been running at and flipped round. Knowing that they were now being showered with blaster fire, she fired a few shots at the offenders, hitting two in the process. Luke was also firing and helping her up, putting his arm round her waist he lifted her onto her feet.  
'I can run' she gasped, but the pain of her blaster shot was screaming in protest, she persisted though- knowing that if they didn't get out of there, it would be far worse. She did a sort of limp-run down the rest of the long glass corridor, firing blaster shots at the troopers, whom she had to say had obviously missed marksmanship lessons. Once they got to the ship she saw the storm troopers were gaining on them, she scrambled up the ramp and limped her way to the cockpit. Luke was still firing on them whilst she started the ships engines, a bright red light flashed on the dashboard indicating that the hyperdrive had been deactivated. 'Of course it has' she muttered, then shouted out 'Luke! We have to get out of here!', she saw him disappear into the belly of the ship then saw on the dash that the ramp had closed, firing up the ship, she punched the controls and they began to lift off. Luke thumped into his seat next to her, taking the controls as she limped to the back as quickly as she could to try and mend the hyperdrive. The troops had obviously not had much mechanical training either, as it took less than two minutes for Anna's trained eye to find and fix the problem.  
'Luke- we're all clear for hyperspace' she called, but the ship was racked with blaster fire, 'I'm on it!' she called afterwards. She hopped into the gunning pod on the other side of the ship, lowering herself down into it, wincing at her leg wound, she put on the headset and connected it up to the controls.  
'They're coming in tight on the left Anna' Luke came over the controls, he was right they whizzed past her screen as she tried to return fire- she missed. Swearing under her breath she gripped the controls even tighter, she was trying hopelessly to ignore the burning pain in her thigh and focus on the fighters that were after them.  
'Luke sweep for tracking devices' she barked down the comlink, waiting for the fighters to come back into view, her palms were sweating, she gripped the controls tighter. Then they came, the fighters flew past again, rocking the ship, she spun her chair in the direction it was headed and fired- the first fighter exploded with the impact. The next two fighters took more shooting to take down, but she eventually got them, two more came and after clipping one of them they crashed into each other and exploded. She sighed pulling the headset off, feeling the ship's sudden movement told her that Luke had made the jump into hyperspace. Griping her chair tightly, she climbed to her feet and stumbled her way into the bedding area, grabbing a medical pack on the way. She pulled one of the bunks down, gasping in pain when she caught her wound on the handle of the bed, she gripped the side of it- willing the pain to subside. She wanted to get her weight of her leg, so she sat on the edge of the bunk, swinging her right leg onto the bunk, then her left, swearing again under her breath again, at the pain. She pulled open the medical pack with her teeth, grabbing the scissors from it, she began cutting her tight trousers open to get a better look at the blaster shot. She had been lucky it wasn't a direct hit, just a glancing blaster burn- but it had still caused a four-inch wound in her thigh- it was bleeding quite a lot, she looked down at her bedraggled trousers and saw the blood-matted material. Luke came stumbling into the bunk compartment, he'd obviously stabilised their flight.  
'Anna- are you alright?' one look at her sweaty forehead and expression told him she wasn't. Her hands were shaking as she tried to dress her wound, he brushed her hands aside softly 'let me' she laid her head back, breathing heavily. Luke managed to dress it well, he put cool packs over the top of the dressing to try and sooth the burning, it helped a lot more than Anna was expecting and the blaster burn had faded into a dull throb by the end of Luke's medical attention.  
'There you go' he smiled, and she smiled too, gripping his hand.  
'Thank you Luke'  
'My pleasure- how is it feeling now?' he asked her softly, pulling her hand so that she could sit up, he sat next to her on the bunk, their legs dangling over the edge of the bed.  
'It feels a lot better, thank you' she smiled to him, leaning her head on his shoulder.  
'Well that mission didn't quite go to plan did it?' he grinned.  
'You can say that again, I think we need to recommend a planet with not a lot of life at all, somewhere that would seem improbable that anyone would be living there' he nodded in agreement with her- it made sense considering their narrow escape, she looked over at him. 'You weren't hit anywhere were you?' Anna asked, concerned that she had been worrying too much about herself, Luke shook his head and chuckled lightly.  
'No, that was just you' she laughed at him.  
'Ah- I hate being a trend setter' she grumbled sarcastically, pushing herself up from the bunk, gingerly putting weight onto her leg, it wasn't too bad. She limped out of the bunk area and into the cockpit, Luke following closely behind- she sat in the co-pilot's chair heavily and Luke sat down beside her.  
'Your moves were quite cool' he started, she turned slowly and looked at him, 'you know- where you were sliding and then you flipped and shot… no?' he trailed off when he saw her unimpressed face, but she cracked a smile.  
'You're a special one aren't you Luke?' he looked up at her and smiled, she leaned over and patted his arm, 'don't worry- so am I'

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 **Thanks for reading! Enjoy Star Wars!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hellooo to you all! Well... the Force Awakens was AMAZING! I was very teary throughout... even at silly little things- but oh well, I guess I just really love Star Wars! It has actually given me a great idea for a sequel to this story- if ever I get there and people want it... but there's still a while to go for now!  
** **I would love for you to review- I'm not too sure about this chapter... and the next chapter I'm even more at odds with (I'm going through and adding bits at the moment) so please let me know!**

 **Thank you to those who have reviewed and favourited/followed- I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Anna was curled up in a cockpit seat, Luke shuffled in, bringing a hot cup of alliance ration tea, she smiled warmly. They had been travelling for several days and they were finally in the last leg of their journey, which she was actually quite sad about. Anna had enjoyed the time alone with Luke and knowing that it would soon be over and they would both be busy doing separate tasks left her feeling slightly empty and gloomy.  
'Thanks Luke' she gratefully took the mug and sipped, the warm liquid burning her tongue slightly, she rested it on her leg.  
'Looking forward to getting back to the fleet?' he asked her, he was holding his own mug, the steam drifting up past his face.  
'Yeah- I guess' she said hesitantly, not even convincing herself that she was trying to sound cheerful, he frowned, confused.  
'What's wrong?' he asked her, leaning forward in his seat, she sighed- _do I lie?_  
'Well aside from the leg wound' which was actually healing very well, 'I've enjoyed this' she looked at him, _He thinks I'm crazy_ she thought, sighing again. To her surprise, Luke's frown disappeared and he smiled genuinely at her.  
'Really?' _no definitely thinks I'm crazy_ , she rolled her eyes and took a sip from her tea.  
'Yes' she said, eyeing him, 'you think I'm crazy right?' but he shook his head and let out a small laugh.  
'I thought I was odd for enjoying it' he smiled brilliantly at her, his blue eyes shining in the dim light of cockpit instruments , 'I kind of don't want to go back' she smiled at him.  
'Me neither' she said softly, looking down at her tea, 'but I guess the whole place would fall apart without us for too long' she grinned up at him, he returned the expression.  
'Yeah- can you imagine the carnage Leia and Han would cause?' he laughed.  
'I hate to think of it' she laughed too, she did miss her friends, she could feel Luke's eyes on her, she looked up, meeting his gaze. She didn't really know what to do, so dropped her eyes again and sipped from her tea, she still felt him looking at her, and also felt heat rising in her cheeks. 'I hope we find a planet to base on soon, but preferably with no imperials lurking' she said quickly, to try and diffuse whatever situation was arising. Luke nodded in agreement.  
'It would be nice to have a planet to be on instead of the constant space travel' he mused, it was her turn to nod, she agreed- the buzz of ships in motion didn't help her sleep, at least with a planet she could regulate her days better. She got up and sat in the pilot seat- next to Luke, she checked the instruments, making sure that their flight was level and constant, she also checked that everything was working fine. Turning to face Luke, she smiled to him and drank from her mug.  
'This really is not as good as proper tea' she laughed slightly, 'on ration food and drink never is good though' he smiled to her.  
'Tell me about it- that steak was good the other night wasn't it?' he grinned, and she smiled, nodding.  
'Hell yeah!' she exclaimed, 'I honestly did consider jumping you for yours' she giggled and he raised his eyebrows at her.  
'I would have loved to have seen you try that in the dress you were wearing' he mocked, grinning cheekily at her.  
'Oh really?' she teased, 'I could have taken you down- even in that ridiculous dress' she threatened.  
'Hey!' he exclaimed, 'it was a great dress' he wiggled his eyebrows at her, she nudged his knee with hers and laughed at his stupid expression. She sighed- leaning back in her seat, smiling contently- she and Luke gazed at each other for a while, not speaking, just in happy silence.

*BREAK*

Anna pulled them out of lightspeed when the computer started flashing, Luke came in and sat in the co-pilot seat and clicking the controls that meant that they could both could control the ship by hand. Anna swooped in towards the main ship of the alliance, giving the clearance code which allowed them access to the main hangar. She sighed when she landed, leaning over and kissing Luke on the cheek.  
'Thanks for being good company' she said awkwardly, getting up out of her seat, he did too and she was suddenly very aware at how close they were. She could feel the heat of his body so close to hers and hear his breath near her ear, feeling it on the back of her neck.  
'Thanks for rescuing me' he said softly in her ear, she turned slightly to smile at him before leaving the cockpit with some haste, limping slightly at her injured leg.

Anna tapped Artoo's head as they made their way towards the access ramp, Luke lowered it and they strolled down, Anna still limping.  
'How's your leg?' he asked her, touching her elbow gently, she looked down at it.  
'Not too bad thanks' she smiled up at him, 'it a lot better- still a little sore I guess' he smiled and nodded. They were met by Chewbacca and Han, Chewie hugged Anna first and then Luke, next it was Han's turn. It felt good to be back with them, Han hugged Anna very tightly it almost hurt, she laughed and pulled away.  
'How was it guys?' he asked, Anna and Luke looked at each other sighing.  
'Well-'Luke started as they began walking out of the hangar, but Han cut him off- noting Anna's limp.  
'What happened to you?' he asked concerned, 'you didn't get my Anna hurt did you kid?' he exclaimed accusingly at Luke, she rubbed Han's arm.  
'Relax Han, it was my own fault- we ran into some imperials' she explained, 'that's what we need to see the general about- we didn't get the support we needed'  
'Ah' he let out a sigh, putting his arm around her shoulders, 'well come on then hope-along' he teased, winking at her. She rolled her eyes, putting her arm round his waist, she used him as support for her leg, which eased her limping, she turned to look at Luke and grinned- holding out a hand to him. He caught up to her and Han, walking by her side, she squeezed his arm and smiled, he returned it.

They reached the high command's briefing room in good time, considering Han had practically pulled Anna along the corridors much to her protests. They waited for the door to slide open and when it did, it revealed General Rieekan, Leia and Commander Sikes.  
'Commander Carter, Skywalker- it is nice to have you back' the General began, his usual coldness always waivered when Anna was around, 'I didn't know you had landed' he frowned, tapping his communicator. Leia got up and embraced her - smiling at her, whilst she was embracing Luke, Anna made her way around the table to sit with Sikes and Rieekan.  
'What's with the leg, Carter?' Sikes asked, frowning at her limp.  
'Ah' she eased herself down into a chair, sighing heavily, 'Well…'

Anna told them everything that had happened on Noalea, the imperials, how they were captured and how she was injured. By this time Han, Luke and Leia had sat down at the table too, Anna looked at all of their concerned faces.  
'It seems we don't have as many allies as we would have hoped' Rieekan sighed, leaning back- his brow furrowed in worry. Anna leaned on the table with her forearms and looked at the general with a serious expression.  
'Sir, we need to find a planet, desperately, that is not inhabited- at least not by an intelligent race' she sighed, 'it needs to be remote- one that doesn't look like anyone could survive there' she looked between Sikes and Rieekan, who had shared a look themselves.  
'We've actually just sent a probe droid out to a planet that fits that exact description' Sikes said to her, with a small smile.  
'Great!' she exclaimed, excited at the fact they may soon be on a planet again, 'what system is it in?' she asked them.  
'The Hoth system' Rieekan answered, she frowned- wracking her brain to try and pull any information from her memory about the Hoth system, she didn't succeed.  
'I don't think I've ever heard of it?' she remarked, surprised- she knew a lot of systems.  
'None of us had- it's really remote' Sikes interjected, as Rieekan pulled up the information on the Hoth system- the hologram floated above in the centre of the large circle table. She looked up at the revolving system, there were three planets and several moons, Rieekan zoomed in on the far planet and she looked carefully at it, reading the stats for it.  
'Woah- surface temperature of minus fifteen degrees in the day?' she exclaimed, rolling her eyes, 'it would be an ice planet wouldn't it' she muttered.  
'It's exactly what we need- according to the preliminary scans conducted by the droids' Rieekan said, but eyed her – 'however we need a team to go and investigate and try and to build a base there' she looked at him, her eyes narrowing.  
'I see where this is going' she got up, 'no way- why is it always me?' she grumbled.  
'It's you because you know the rebellion, you know the troops and you know the equipment- you're an expert' Sikes sighed, looking up at her, she rolled her eyes.  
'Oh flattery will get you nowhere' she grinned, 'if I'm going you're coming with me' she nudged his elbow, then stopped- realising how much of a proposition it sounded like. 'You know what I mean' she blurted, looking at Han's gleeful expression, 'oh wipe that smirk off your face you loon' she clipped him round the ear and tried to storm out, which was far less impressive with her slight limp.  
'Anna- you, Captain Solo and Princess Leia will be taking the Armillies, with the landing crew' General Rieekan called after her, she turned round.  
'Yeah I know' she left the room, heading in the direction of the gym.

*BREAK*

Luke found her in the gym, she was in the middle of doing her round of two hundred sit-ups, sweat glistening on her bare skin. She had been in there for a good hour, on the treadmill, doing her press-ups, pull-ups and basically anything that worked all of her energy up so that she could sleep that night. She had changed into her gym kit, meaning that her arms and stomach were bare- which was good considering the gym's cooling system didn't seem to be working properly. She saw Luke come in, she finished her sit-ups then got to her feet, grabbing her towel from the side of a treadmill handle, towelling herself down she smiled to him.  
'You okay?' she asked him, wondering why he was there, he nodded.  
'I'm fine' he looked down, 'what about you?' she was puzzled as to why he was like this.  
'I'm great- leg's feeling better' she smiled, wiggling her leg.  
'Good- I'm glad' he gave her a small smile.  
'Luke- what is it?' he was sulking like a child.  
'I- I just kind of wanted to come with you guys to Hoth- I've been left with the rubbish jobs around here' she laughed at him.  
'You can go instead of me if you want?' she grinned, 'I hate the cold'  
'But then there'd be no point in me going-' he trailed off, blushing, she felt the heat rise in her face too.  
'Seriously the only good thing to come out of the cold is good vodka' she hurriedly said, trying to ignore what Luke had himself hurriedly said. Luke looked at her and smiled, rolling his eyes.  
'Do you ever think about a planet and not about its alcohol?' she grinned.  
'I don't think so- no' she stuck her tongue out, 'although looking at the life readings- I'll have to take my own'. He looked at her and smiled, he had a lovely smile, 'When do we go?' she asked him, 'I usually just agree to things and don't bother listening to the details' she grinned, and he let out a small laugh.  
'About a week- it will take a while to gather all the equipment needed apparently' she nodded, it would take a while- considering they would be planning to build a base there.  
'Well then- a week to recover' she rolled her eyes, knowing that she probably wouldn't sleep well.  
'Are you going to come and train with the squad tomorrow?' he asked her, she frowned, probably.  
'Sure- why not?' she smiled to him, 'I might get called away though- sorry' she looked at him as he nodded, he was still upset about something.  
'Luke?' she queried, thinking she knew the answer to his mood, 'how long is the mission to Hoth- I didn't quite hear?' he looked down.  
'It's a month there and reporting back, but if it can sustain life, then you'll stay there and wait for the fleet to meet you in three months' time' she frowned, that was a long time.  
'So I'm probably not going to see you in three months?' she was disappointed and she'd showed it, trying to recover the statement she said, 'are you really leaving me with Han and Leia for three months?' she grinned and he laughed at her joke, but with an undertone of sadness.  
'I guess I am' he chuckled, 'how the Force will you cope without me?' he nudged her shoulder and she smiled.  
'Ohh I have no idea- I won't be able to live' she sarcastically replied and stuck her tongue out.  
'Anna- do you want to get some dinner?' he asked her, she looked at his lovely face and smiled.  
'Of course' his eyes lit up, but she looked down at herself, 'I'll get changed first though- I'm a mess'  
'You look fine' he reassured her, 'compared to the rest of the crew- you'll look great'  
'Erm- thanks I guess…' she frowned, was that meant to be a complement?  
'You know what I mean' he stammered, she grinned at him.  
'Relax Luke- I'm not Leia- I don't take things too seriously' she joked, picking up her zip-up hoody, she pulled it on and nodded to the door, 'shall we go?' she asked him and he nodded, following her out.

*BREAK*

'Stop it!' Anna pushed Luke's shoulder to try and stop him from moving her plate with the Force every time she tried to take a mouthful. He was laughing uncontrollably at her annoyance, and she couldn't help but smile at his face. She tried to get some food on her fork, but again the plate moved she sighed, rolling her eyes at him and smiled. Leaning her head on her hand, she sighed.  
'Am I ever going to get to finish my dinner?' she asked, raising her eyebrows, he looked at her with a grin.  
'Yes of course' he said cheekily, wiggling his eyebrows at her.  
'Oh yeah right- just because you wolfed yours down' she tried again- but this time he let her take her food, she ate the last few mouthfuls of her meal and sat back- full.  
'See I can be nice' he said, grinning, _you're always nice,_ she thought, and then saw his eyes flicker to hers, was she projecting again? She really needed to watch that.  
'Hmm- sometimes I guess' she grinned back, then the sight of Han coming towards them made her smile even wider.  
'Hey kid' he clapped Luke's shoulder, 'what am I going to do with two women all to myself eh?' he wiggled his eyebrows at him, and Luke rolled his eyes. 'I mean- how can I divide my attention equally amongst them?' he mocked, and Anna let out a short laugh.  
'Oh Han darling, focus it on Leia- I'm sure she'll love it more than me' she pushed her chair backwards, getting up, 'where is she anyway?' Anna asked Han. He looked up at her and sighed.  
'I think she's in her quarters' he answered and Anna nodded, picking up her plate.  
'Alright- I'll see you boys later' she smiled to Luke and walked off, in search of her princess friend.

She trundled through the ship, hoping that Han wouldn't be bragging too much to Luke, but she didn't worry too much- he could look after himself. She went right in to Leia's chambers, the lock was configured to her anyway, Leia looked up from packing when she came in.  
'Hey' she greeted her, and Leia smiled.  
'Are you alright Anna?' Anna flopped down onto a seat and sighed.  
'I am' she rolled her eyes, 'I think- aha- we'll be there a long time' Leia nodded.  
'I know Anna, it will be okay though' Leia reassured her, but Anna wasn't convinced- she would really miss Luke. She had to shake it though, she had Han and Leia to keep her company- that would be enough (when they weren't fighting).  
'It will- and we'll be very busy' she said- rolling her eyes at the thought of the sheer volume of tasks they would have to be organised to build the base.  
'It will indeed' Leia put another jumper into her large case, Anna got up and walked over to her.  
'How much are you packing anyway?' Anna scratched her head thinking she didn't even own that many clothes.  
'Just lots of layers- it's an ice planet remember' Leia looked over to two more cases that she had packed and were ready by the door, 'you know- we've not got long until we have to be on board- do you have everything packed Anna?'  
'Leia- you know me- I haven't even started' she grinned at the scornful expression on her face, 'relax, I don't have as many clothes as you, it won't take me too long'  
'True- I do have too many' the princess said, holding up another jumper, sighing they both sat down on her bed.  
'So what's with you and Han?' Anna asked, after a few minutes of silence, but Leia sighed.  
'He's annoying' she replied, and Anna nodded.  
'He is- but…' Anna nudged her shoulder and smiled.  
'Sometimes he can be alright, I guess' Anna rolled her eyes, looking at her meaningfully, 'what's that look for?'  
'Nothing' Anna grinned, 'he can be alright- _sometimes'_ they both laughed and Anna laid back, sighing she looked at Leia, 'what's it like having loads of guys either after you- or afraid of you?'  
'They're not' she sighed, looking at her friend.  
'Oh please- Luke, Han, all the captains in my old squad!' Anna exclaimed, laughing slightly.  
'Well you're one to talk missus!' Leia argued back, 'You've got Giles'  
'Oh not really' Anna rolled her eyes again, looking at Leia, 'that was nothing'  
'Well Sikes likes you' Anna's eyes went wide and shocked.  
'What?' she exclaimed, but Leia nodded.  
'It's so obvious!' Leia laughed at her expression, but Anna's eyebrows remained high.  
'No it isn't! What the hell is this about?' her voice was high pitched.  
'He likes you- he pushed to get himself on the Hoth mission with us- didn't you wonder why he was leading the communications team when he's an engineer?' Leia explained, laughing slightly.  
'Oh I don't think so Leia'  
'Shush you!' she interrupted her, 'why don't you believe me? Don't even get me started on Luke'  
'Luke has a thing for you, Princess' Anna scoffed, 'and you know it'  
'Well, maybe-' Leia began, 'but the way he looks at you- there is something there, far more than anything he felt for me' she sighed, looking at her.  
'Oh shut up' Anna shoved her, and Leia fell right off the bed, she held onto Anna's arm, pulling her on top of her. Anna and Leia cackled like two witches on the floor of her room, laying backwards and staying there.

The two of them laughed and joked for the rest of the evening, until they were both sufficiently tired that Anna slumped off to bed. She dozily stumbled down the corridors, yawning as she neared her door.  
'Hi Anna' she spun around to see Luke, who must have also been making his way to bed.  
'Oh hey Luke- sorry me and Leia got talking, did you have a nice evening?' she smiled to him, he nodded.  
'I did yes- thank you' he smiled at her.  
'Well- I'm off to bed, but I'll see you in the morning for Force training?' she asked, hopefully, he nodded.  
'Absolutely'  
'Good- I suppose we'll have to cram the rest of the week, before I go' she laughed, but she was still miffed that she probably wouldn't see him in three months.  
'I guess we will' he said, in an annoyed tone, Anna raised her eyebrows, but none the less, ignored him.  
'Goodnight Luke' she smiled, leaning over to hug him, he embraced her tightly briefly and then let go.  
'Goodnight' he smiled and they both turned to their rooms for bed.

*BREAK*

The week had gone quickly, Anna had only just managed to pack in time to load onto the ship they would be taking. She had spent the last evening with Luke, they all had- but Anna had been the last to see him before they had gone to bed. He was clearly disappointed that they were leaving and had been slightly moody, but she had called him on it and he'd packed it in.

They were to fly early morning so she felt guilty about knocking on his door so early, but she was sure he'd want to say goodbye before, and she certainly did. Sighing, she knocked and waited for the answer, she looked down the long hall- usually it was busy, but because it was so early most people had only just gone to bed anyway. She turned back when she heard the door slide open, her eyes widened when she saw Luke's bare chest- it was very muscular, she blushed and looked down averting his gaze for a moment.  
'Anna- hey' he said sleepily, pulling on a wrap-around jumper, covering his bare skin.  
'I just came to say goodbye' she smiled weakly, still embarrassed about her reaction to his chest.  
'Oh yeah' he smiled too, looking at her; she was dressed in a blue jumpsuit, with a jacket over her arm and a kit bag over her shoulder.  
'Are you going to be alright without me' she grinned at him and plonked her stuff down next to the wall.  
'Aha- I hope so, otherwise it will be a while' he wiggled his eyebrows, 'will you be alright keeping Han and Leia from killing each other?' She laughed and then sighed, looking at him.  
'Hmm I have Chewie' she grinned, 'I'll just leave them to it- otherwise I may end up killing them!' he smiled to her.

"Commander Carter to hangar three, Commander Carter to hangar three – five minutes to take off" Came over the sound system, Anna sighed and rolled her eyes.

'I'm always late, ugh, I guess I should go' she looked at him and he nodded, slowly smiling slightly, she sighed and looked at him.  
'Well- be careful Anna' he said, looking down, she moved forward taking his hands and looking at his face.  
'I'll see you soon, okay?' she said, smiling at him, she pulled him closer and put her arms round his neck. They hugged for several moments and when they started to pull away, Anna moved her face to the side to plant a kiss on his cheek, but Luke seemed to have the same idea- they caught each other's lips. Anna pulled away quickly, blushing deeply at their inadvertent kiss, he was a perfect scarlet too.  
'I'm sorry- I' he spluttered, their faces still quite close, she smiled and kissed his cheek.  
'Don't worry' she laughed, trying to push away her embarrassment, 'I'll see you soon'.  
'Bye Anna, be careful' he smiled, his face still red.  
'You too, stay out of trouble' she replied, picking up her stuff and walking off to catch the ship to Hoth, trying desperately not to think about kissing Luke.

* * *

 **Oooooh an inadvertent kiss...**

 **I hope you enjoyed... this will be my last post before Christmas and maybe even New Year- so Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Helloooo to all of you lovely readers!** **I am not a huge fan of this chapter... and found myself rewriting it several times, but it still hasn't turned out the way I wanted it too... but I thought I may as well post it and start on a better chapter in the new year! I hope everyone had a good Christmas!**

 **Thank you to those who have reviewed (** **Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, marina2351, charlotteykins, AllyCatt12 and the lovely Guest)** **and Followed- its always great to hear what you think :)**

 **I hope you enjoy- let me know what you think!**

* * *

'You said it Chewie' Anna grumbled in the cold of the cabin, she was on the lookout for fighter aircraft, it was her shift. She was hoping that Sikes wasn't still up after the embarrassing information she had learnt from Leia, Anna didn't think she was right- he was a friend, and nothing more. She patted the Wookie who was sat in the seat next to hers, fur spilling over the sides and his long legs too big for the cockpit. The ship was peaceful; the crew of two-hundred and eighty-five had gone to sleep about an hour previously which meant that she had about five hours left before Han would take over scoping for enemy fighters. She sighed leaning back in her seat- she looked over at Chewbacca, his shallow snoring was rattling around the smallish cockpit. Sighing, she took a bleeper that would show anything that came up on the scanners, and left the cockpit- she was hungry. She made her way down to the small ship kitchen and got some dehydrated food and added warm water, stirring it, she lent on the counter.  
She looked up from her food when she heard someone coming, _please don't be Sikes, please don't be Sikes,_ she hoped.  
'Hi Anna' Sikes smiled weakly at her, _ah crap._  
'Hey Sikes- you okay?' she smiled back, _damn it Leia- why did you tell me?_ He nodded at her.  
'Do you want me to keep you company? It's a long shift when people are asleep' He laughed, shyly- which wasn't usual for him, she looked at him and sighed.  
'It's okay Jouren- I have Chewbacca in there' she nodded towards the cockpit, 'you get some sleep- you must be tired' she smiled, secretly hoping that he was tired.  
'In all honesty- I can't sleep' he admitted, pulling out a mug from the side and making himself some coffee.  
'Do you think this planet will be suitable?' she asked him, leaning against the cupboard door, holding her bowl up as she ate some off the pasta that was floating around in the tasteless sauce. He shrugged, sighing.  
'I don't know, it probably won't be very inhabitable, but we have the technology and skills to build a base in those conditions' he stated, he was right- the cold wouldn't be easy but with their fairly large crew, a base could be constructed a quite a quick time.  
'We do' she agreed, 'so how come you're heading up the communications base?' she asked him, 'I thought you were an engineer' she smiled.  
'I am- but er-' he paused, she sensed he was thinking of an excuse, 'General Rieekan trusted me with the setting up of the new communication centre, he gave me clear instructions' she smiled to him.  
'Ah – I see' she said, pouring herself a coffee and throwing her disposable bowl away.  
'Will you be alright commanding the building of the base?' he asked her, concerned but she laughed.  
'Of course I will- they're all competent soldiers and they can build' she smiled to him and walked over to the seating area which was close to the kitchen, he followed. She hugged her warm coffee mug closely and sat down on one of the somewhat comfy chairs and Sikes sat opposite her.

'You'll be spending a lot of time with Leia, presumably' Anna smiled, 'she's very good at the coms set-up' Sikes shifted and sighed, sipping from his coffee.  
'I guess so' he leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, 'can I tell you a secret?' he looked around as if to check no one was around, something that Anna found highly hilarious because everyone was asleep.  
'Sikes- of course you can' she raised her eyebrow and mirrored him by leaning forward also.  
'She scares the crap out of me' he looked deadly serious, but Anna couldn't keep her face straight, she broke into a wide grin and laughed at his expression. 'What?' he frowned, leaning back again, but Anna couldn't control her laughter and split her coffee.  
'Oww, jeezzz' she jumped up and put her coffee down on the table, and brushed off the scalding liquid from her leg.  
'Are you alright?' Sikes asked her, getting up himself and going over to her, he put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at his face, concern plastered all over it, and she burst out laughing again.  
'She's not that bad' she breathed between laughs, 'I mean she's scary- but so are you' she patted his chest, he drew back and looked at her.  
'You think I'm scary?' he eyed her, nervously.  
'Sure- but don't worry because I can take you down' she winked and sat back down on her seat, he stood there for a moment and then returned to his seat. They both sipped at their coffee silently for a while, until Sikes asked her about Luke. They had a full discussion on his abilities, Sikes liked the guy and he could tell Anna did too. Then their conversation moved to a more nostalgic one; they reminisced about what they had done previously to the rebellion, Sikes had been a trader on Coruscant and had when travelling to Alderaan he had joined Anna and Leia in the rebellion. They had both become good friends for the four years they had worked together, becoming rebels together, and she trusted him with her life.

Han found them, hours later, still in deep conversation, but relaxed; Anna was laid across the arms of the chair she was sitting in, and had got up when she felt Han's approach.  
'Hey you' she smiled at her smuggler friend, and got up to hi-five him.  
'You ready for me to take over?' he asked her, and she nodded and yawned.  
'Chewie's asleep in the cockpit' she laughed patting his arm and kissing his cheek, before bidding Han and Sikes a good night and heading down the steps to the dorms.

Once she had been to the bathroom, she clambered up the ladder to the top bunk of three, the lower one was Chewbacca's and the middle was Han's, she looked around at the compartment- it was smaller than the main ones, with only two sets of bunks of three. Leia was asleep on the bottom bunk opposite Anna, it was the largest bunk, no one had been assigned the middle one, and Sikes had the top bunk facing Anna. Their section was closed off from the rest of the crew's, they were in charge which meant that they would be flitting in and out of the dorm at all hours of the day. Anna pulled off her jumper and boots, placing them in the compartment at the foot of her bed, which contained some of her belongings. She got under the light covers, and turned on her side for sleep, it came quickly.

*BREAK*

Anna switched the ship onto manual control, leaning forward in her co-pilot chair, she looked over at Han.  
'Are you ready to descend captain?' she wiggled her eyebrows, although she hated the cold, she was looking forward to getting off the cramped ship. In the month- long trip, she hadn't managed to have any time to herself, she had spent most of her time with Leia, whom she discussed plans for the base with. Sikes had sat in on many occasions, giving his input, and on most occasions he spent her night shifts with Anna, something she began to enjoy. He was comforting and funny, they had truly grown up together through the rebellion, and had seen most of life before she had joined the alliance, but she had become a true adult when she had completed her training. She had also turned twenty on-board the ship, something that everyone besides Chewbacca had failed to remember- she had shushed him before he could mention it in-front of anyone else. She missed Luke already, but her time with Sikes had filled a gap that his company had left.  
'I sure am A' Han said, pulling Anna out of her thoughts, she grinned and began to move her controls down, mirroring Han's actions. The atmosphere was thick, and the sensors were bleeping rapidly, there were small life readings but they were weak, she realised once they were low enough that they were coming down in a blizzard.  
'Can you see the landing square the probe droids set up?' she asked, but she knew it would be a no, as she peaked out the window, she could only see white.  
'Nahh' he grunted, shifting in his seat so that he could view the scanner in the middle of the control panel, 'it's up on the screen though- I might be able to land it, but I need you to help me'  
'Sure' she pulled her seat upwards she clicked the switches on the roof of the cockpit which put a screen over the cockpit windscreen, showing the lasers of the landing square more prominently.  
'I'll take the up and down, Han' she instructed, allowing him to manoeuvre the ship that was far larger than he was used to, into the square that the droids had deemed safe.

They managed to land the craft a lot longer than they would have, they still couldn't see anything, due to the blizzard.  
'The clock says that its four-am local time' Anna said- sighing, 'Hopefully the weather will recover in the morning' she leant back in her seat.  
'We can only hope' he grumbled, 'This is Captain Solo, due to poor conditions, we're going to stay on-board tonight' he said over the com link.

They sat in silence for a while, then the cockpit door opened, Leia and Sikes came in.  
'What's the situation- oh-' Leia stopped speaking when she saw the sheet of white outside the window.  
'Yeah' Han looked at her, putting his feet up on the control panel and flicking the off switch of the main engine, leaving just the engine to keep everything working on board. Anna got up so that Leia could sit down next to Han, raising her eyebrows at Sikes they both left the cockpit to leave the two stubborn love-birds time to themselves.

'Was it a difficult landing?' Sikes asked her, as they walked down the corridor to the small lounge the five of the leaders shared, Chewbacca was already in there. She strode over and stroked his head, before plonking herself down in a seat opposite him, and Sikes sat next to her.  
'A little- I've had worse' she grinned at him and he raised his eyebrows, and nodded.  
'I'll say- when we were evacuating Yavin Four, we thought you were gone' he sighed, she continued to grin and laughed slightly.  
'Aww were you worried?' she joked, in a mocking tone, but Sikes took her hand gently and looked her in the eyes.  
'Very' it was almost a whisper, Anna didn't know what to do- it was all a bit serious for her, and all she could think of was Luke. She coughed nervously, looked over at Chewie then back to Sikes, she squeezed his hand and then let go not really knowing what to say next. 'Anna- I-' he began, but he was interrupted by one of her Corporals from the engineering department.  
'Commander Carter?' he began, quite breathless, 'There's been a small reactor leak in the engine room' she checked her scanner and saw that there had in the fourth compartment. Clipping it back on her belt she got up and went to leave the room, firstly grabbing her kit bag.  
'Thanks, Caster' she said to him, 'I'll probably need your assistance' she looked at him and he nodded, following her out the room.

Anna pulled one of the grids aside, and hopped down into compartment four, grabbing a few of her tools she managed to patch the leak before the compartment was flooded with radiation. She sighed and leaned on the side of the compartment, sweat glistening on her brown from the strain the reactor leak had put her under, breathing deeply before she pulled herself out. She unclipped her communicator from her belt and pressed the button to the cockpit com link.  
'Han?'  
'Yeah?' he replied, quickly.  
'I patched the leak, but you might want to put weather shields up- it's cold out, and we don't want the ship damaged'  
'Won't that drain the generator?' he sounded uncertain, but she sighed- looking around her, she knew she could fix that.  
'Not if you leave it with me' she chuckled softly, 'Is Sikes there?' she asked, sighed again.  
'Yeah- he's here' Han now sounded bored, but she knew him so well as to recognise his normal tone.  
'Tell him to get down here asap' she ordered, 'I'll need his help' she then severed the communication and pulled the sleeves and top of her jumpsuit down, tying them round her waist- the reactor made the generator centre pretty hot.

Sikes had made it down quickly, they both had to work together in by-passing the main generator to allow all of its power to go to the shield, this meant that the shield generator wouldn't be damaged or drained. They could recharge in the morning, when the scanners had indicated that the weather would subside, and Hoth's sun could give the generator the right burst of energy needed. They worked together well, moving past each other in synchronisation, but bumping sometimes too- something that Anna sensed was not all the accident Sikes had pretended it was.  
She couldn't lie to herself though, she did like him, she also liked the fact that he liked her, and she hated herself for being so vain, but she couldn't deny her feelings. Luke was far away in space, and she knew he was crushing hard on her princess friend, and it was easier with Sikes, so much so that she felt completely relaxed around him- with Luke she was always slightly on guard, not knowing if he was in her head or not.  
The task took a while, but they had managed it, making the ship safer from the elements before they could venture out and explore what the probe droids had come up with in the morning.

*BREAK*

Anna was freezing, in five layers, she shivered as her, Sikes, Han, Leia and Chewbacca stood and gathered the data from the droids. She looked around and saw a rocky outcrop that was snow filled and would provide a perfect starting block for their new base, _Echo Base_ as Leia had named it. They had large drilling equipment that would be perfect at removing the ice and snow from inside the cave-like structure, and their man-power scheduled the building to be finished within the two month time-frame they had, before the rest of the rebellion regrouped there. The surface was tolerable and they hadn't frozen to death in the half- an – hour they had been out in the cold, so the signs were looking good.

'What do you think?' Leia asked, handing Han and Anna a warm cup of coffee, the plans for the Echo Base spinning around in front of the table in their small lounge.  
'It's promising- the droids have done a good job' Anna replied, taking a sip of her drink but immediately regretting this, as it left a small burn on her tongue, she set the mug down.  
'See Miss Anna- I told you us droids were good at things' Threepio chirped in, as he walked through the lounge door.  
'Oh – when did you get here?' Han grumbled and Anna laughed.  
'He's been here all along, just been charging that it all' Sikes said, leaning back in his chair.  
'And someone turned him on?' Anna gasped in mock horror, 'well I think they need to be exiled to the outside in their underwear' she giggled, along with Chewie and Leia.  
'It was me' he replied, looking pointedly at her, this only made them laugh even more, and he rolled his eyes at them.  
'Well go on then Sikes, get your kit off' Han joked, 'Anna was very clear about that' he laughed at Sikes' expression, and Anna couldn't help but laugh too- at the utter ridiculousness of the situation.  
'Not enough liquor on this ship for that Solo' he grunted, but grinned in spite of himself.  
'So' Leia began, trying to bring the conversation back to the issue in hand, 'are we all clear on the planning of what we're doing?' she asked them, they all nodded. 'Han- you will be in charge of main construction, your team will be carrying out the basic building work' he continued nodding to her.  
'That's right Han- _basic work_ ' Anna nudged his shoulder and grinned.  
'Anna- you will be working on the trickier work- electrics, generators, ventilation' Anna nodded to Leia, 'of course Han can help you with that, and you'll be working closely with Sikes to get the communications centre started up' Leia winked at Anna- something she had never seen the princess do before, and quite honestly hoped she'd never see again. 'Sikes- you will be setting up a fully operational communication and command centre- are all your teams ready?' she looked at them all, and once again they all nodded.  
'So what's your job Leia?' Anna asked jokingly.  
'Oh she's just there to look pretty, right your worship?' Han leaned back, a smirk on his face, Leia rolled her eyes at him.  
'Well someone has to do it- and it couldn't be you could it?' she retorted, earn a roar of laughter from Chewbacca, Sikes and Anna.

*BREAK*

Anna strolled through the newly built, almost finished, but still completely freezing, base. She had been called by Sikes to help him with some difficulties he was having with some of the radios. The fleet would be arriving momentarily, so it was extremely important that they were up and running in time, so that they could lower their shield generator for their entrance.

'Sikes?' she called when she slid the command centre door open, the long room was deserted, all the colourful charts looked strange without the team working on them. Sikes popped his head up from under a counter top, he smiled warmly to her and she grinned back.  
'Where is everyone?' she asked, looking around again.  
'Oh- they're on their dinner break' he breathed, looking around also.  
'Ah I see- so what's up?' she clapped her hands and walked over to him.  
'Well the frequency keeps shifting- I can't seem to stabilise it' he explained, and she nodded.  
'Ahh- sometimes you need to pull the scanners closer together, and scan for a smaller range of frequency' she explained, tinkering away at the main radio receiver. She was very aware of him standing extremely close to her, she could feel his breath on her neck, she continued however- and when she was done she turned to face him.  
He was indeed extremely close, she almost went cross-eyed from trying to look into his green eyes.  
'Anna' he whispered softly, 'I've enjoyed these three months with you', he spoke so softly- it was barely audible. Her mouth turned up at the sides into a small smile, she looked down, avoiding his gaze, but he reached out and brushed the hair off her face. He got even closer, something that Anna hadn't thought possible, and wrapped his hand around her waist- she knew what was happening, and she was going to let it. His other hand still rested on her cheek and as he leaned into her, his eyes closed, his pressed his lips against hers softly, tenderly, and Anna closed her eyes- enjoying the moment. What was a soft kiss, turned into a deeper one, when Sikes had realised that she was kissing him back, her hands moving to his face, and his moving from her waist, up her sides to the back of her head, where he held her hair gently.  
Just then the radio crackled to life, the fleet was approaching and all Anna heard was;  
'Commander Skywalker, requesting permission to land'.  
'Ugghh' Anna spluttered- pushing Sikes away from her- _how could I have been so stupid?_  
'Commander Skywalker- requesting permission to land- are you receiving me Echo Base?' Luke persisted, and Anna grabbed the head set.  
'Commander Skywalker, this is Commander Carter- you have permission to land' she answered him pressing the button to shut the deflector shield down, 'the deflector shield has been deactivated'  
'Hey Anna!' Luke's excited voice came over the radio, once he knew he was speaking to her, 'I can't wait to see you all'.  
Her heart crushed in her chest, as his lovely voice had been so excited to hear her, and she felt incredibly guilty about kissing Sikes. She turned round to look at him, she could feel the heat on her face at her embarrassment and guilt, he looked rather annoyed at her expression.  
'It's okay Anna- I get it' he said coldly, 'now Luke's back- you don't need my company' he was clearly hurt, and she didn't want to admit that he might be right, at that current moment- she loathed herself.  
'No- Sikes, it's not like that-' she reached out for his arm, but he shrugged her off and turned to sit at a control desk and then the rest of the communication staff began to flood in- she couldn't continue her protests. She tucked her tail between her legs and left the room- knowing that she should be heading down to the hangar to see Luke, but she really couldn't force herself to.

She ended up hiding in her chambers, they were smaller than Leia's, but larger than some of the other soldiers. She lay across her bed, face down to the covers, trying to push her guilt away- knowing that if Luke had been practicing his force skills like she had, for the past three months- he would definitely sense the feelings in her.

Leia found her half an hour later, she hadn't moved at all, and when she heard the door slide open she let out a small groan.  
'Where have you been?' Leia was slightly stern, but it was more concern than anything, 'Luke has been asking after you, what happened?'  
'I kissed Sikes' she grumbled, her voice muffled, but Leia had heard her.  
'Oh' she sat down on the bed next to her, and Anna turned over to look at her, 'well that's okay-'  
'No Leia- I mean I really, really kissed him' Anna had got up and exclaimed this.  
'Ah- I didn't know you liked him?' she was trying to be nice, but Anna just felt ashamed.  
'I don't think I do- that's the problem' she looked down at her hands, she felt Leia's judging gaze.  
'Oh' she was surprised, 'are you going to tell Luke? He was wondering why you hadn't come to meet him'  
'No- I'm not telling Luke!' she looked at Leia, 'but he'll probably find out anyway' she was miserable, and she really didn't want to moan. 'Ugh come on- I'm not feeling sorry for myself anymore' she clapped her hands and walked out of her room to meet Luke. 'You know Leia- I am really not good in dealing with men' she sighed, and looked at the princess, and she just shrugged.  
'Don't look at me- I'm worse than you' she said, Anna rolled her eyes.

'Anna!' Luke called when he saw her enter the hangar, he ran over to hug her, she hugged him tightly and when she opened her eyes, she saw Sikes across the hangar. She made eye contact with him, he looked away and she felt guilt surge through her again. She pulled away from Luke, who frowned at her- he held onto her arms and peered at her face.  
'What's wrong- what is it?' she rolled her eyes, and avoided his gaze.  
'Nothing Luke- I'm really happy to see you' she forced a smile, this wasn't a lie- she was extremely happy to see him, but she still couldn't push away the guilt. She looked at where Sikes had been, Luke followed her gaze, and frowned again, puzzled so she tried to change the subject.  
'What have you been up to then?' she asked him, he looked at her, still confused at her emotion, but then smiled.  
'Just preparing the crew for Hoth, and getting training in' he explained, 'There wasn't much else for us to do, I think you have had a lot more on your hands- I hear you and Sikes have been busy' Anna's eyes went wide and her face flushed red.  
'W-what?' she spluttered, Leia swooped in holding her arm.  
'Yes- they've been setting up the command centre- Anna and Han had most of the work though', Anna shot Leia a grateful glance, and noticed the confusion on Luke and now Han's faces.  
'Yeah Sikes is pretty lazy' Han chuckled, 'but he does like our Anna doesn't he Leia?' he laughed slightly, but Leia elbowed him in the ribs, 'oww- what was that for?' Anna was still bright red, and as she looked between the three of them, desperate for them to change the subject- Anna heard Leia whisper to Han.  
'I'll explain later'

Anna didn't know why she felt so awful about the whole situation. Was she an adult? Yes. Was she an independent woman who could kiss who they liked? Yes she was. However, she didn't like Sikes in that way, and she felt guilty because she had known about his feelings for her, and had unwittingly played on this, to provide her company whilst Luke was away. Yes, this was why she felt awful, she didn't like the fact she had used him, no matter if she knew she had or not. Anna had known Sikes a long time, she would certainly take a blaster shot for him, but love him? Not in the way he wanted.

'Sikes likes you?' Luke leant in and asked her, as they were heading to the canteen, she sighed.  
'Luke, I really don't want to talk about it right now- I'm sorry' she looked at him, his hair had gotten darker these past few months, it was no longer being bleached by the two suns on Tatooine. He looked a little hurt at her answer, obviously wanting to share in the details, something that Han would probably tell him later anyway, but he just nodded.  
'I've missed you Anna' he whispered, taking her hand gently, she smiled at him and squeezed his hand.  
'I've missed you too'

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Happy New Year to everyone!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Helloooo to you all! I hope you all had a lovely new year :)**

 **Here's the next chapter- its kind of an in-between chapter, and the story is getting close to the start of ESB now...**

 **Anyhoo- thank you for the follows and favourites- thank you, to** **marina235, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967 and some lovely guests for the reviews!**

 **I hope you enjoy the chapter, and as always- let me know what you think!**

* * *

After several weeks, Echo Base was fully operational, they were still working on getting the speeders up and running, so for now, their sweeps of the surrounding area were to be carried out on the local Tauntauns. Anna hated going out on them, they smelt incredibly bad, and sometimes spat- but they were better than trudging through the snow, waiting for a certain chilly death. Things had settled, Sikes was still cross with Anna, but he was talking to her more and more- mostly about missions, nothing special, but she appreciated it. Luke still had no idea what had happened, or if he did, he had been hiding it well- Han knew, so Anna was surprised that Luke didn't. However, when she thought about it more deeply, she realised that she had been friends with Han for a very long time- something that meant she had access to a lot of his darkest secrets, and Han most likely didn't want Leia to know them.

'A' Anna turned around to Han's call, she was currently fixing one of the small droids used to service and assess the fighters. She saw him jog up to her, he smiled warmly, she returned the gesture.  
'What's up with you?' she asked him, suspicious at his happy expression, 'have you been winding someone up?'  
'Not this time' he grinned, 'but it was Sikes yesterday' Anna rolled her eyes.  
'And why would you do that Han?' she asked, putting down one of her tools.  
'Because he's sending us on a damn mission' he flicked dirt off his sleeve, Anna groaned.  
'Why?' she jumped up and sat on a stack of boxes, it was high, and Han's eyes widened at her force abilities.  
'I dunno' he prodded the foot that she was swinging, 'something about parts- scavenging again' she groaned again, leaning her elbows on her knees.  
'The general wanted to pick up some extra supplies for the space cruisers, the cold had led some of them to be damaged'  
'Ahh, and Sikes chose us to go?' she grinned at him, 'I wonder why'  
'You were the one that kissed him- I don't know why he's punishing me' she rolled her eyes and looked at the smuggler.  
'You know exactly why- you're a torment' she smiled to him, patting his arm she looked up across the busy hangar and caught site of Luke making his way towards the two of them. He greeted several of his friends and co-workers on his way, being caught up in several discussions with them. Han followed her gaze and, looked pointedly at her.  
'Have you told him about your kissing session with Sikes?' he asked her, already knowing the answer.  
'What do you think?' she glared at him, and rolled her eyes.  
'You ought to, you know' Han said, far too serious for her liking, 'he knows something went on anyway- he's your friend Anna, it's not fair to keep him out of it'  
'Oh shut up- what is he? Your boyfriend?' she grinned at him but Han rolled his eyes at her, and she patted his arm, 'don't worry- I'll tell him… eventually' she sighed.

Luke finally made his way over to them, smiling widely at Han and Anna- he looked very smart in his uniform, with a large overcoat on, his hair was slightly ruffled from whatever activity he had been doing earlier.  
'Hey guys' he sighed, leaning on the stack of containers Anna was sat on, she smiled, 'I hear you're going on another mission in a couple of days?' Anna groaned in confirmation, and Han nodded.  
'Yeah- Sikes is sending us, punishing Anna' Han laughed, and Luke frowned- confused.  
'Punishing?' he asked Anna, 'what for?'  
'What did you say Chewie?' Han said into his communicator, it was terrible acting and Anna rolled her eyes as he walked off talking into it.  
'What was that about?' Luke looked puzzled, Anna sighed and jumped down next to him, pulling herself together she decided to tell him.  
'Well, Sikes is punishing me, because he's mad at me' she pulled a cloth out of her jumpsuit pocket and began wiping the droid she was working on earlier that day, 'and he's mad because I kissed him and the reason I did that was because I missed you' she blurted, _damn I didn't mean to say that_. She coughed slightly, she braved looking up at his face, his eyes were wide and his face was slightly flushed- but he didn't seem angry. 'So yeah- I'm a terrible person, because I didn't mean to do it, but I did' she slapped her arms against her thighs and then crossed them across her chest.  
'Oh' he had taken a few moments to speak, and she was hoping that he would say more.  
'Yeah' she turned away from him and carried on polishing the droid.  
'Anna?' his voice was soft and she felt his hand on her shoulder, through the several layers of jumpers, she turned and stood up opposite him. He smiled slightly to her, his eyes were soft to go with his voice, 'You're not horrible- just silly'. She laughed at him, he moved to hug her, and she hugged him back, he rested his chin on her head. 'Did you actually miss me?' he asked, again, in a soft tone, she pulled away slightly and looked up at him and smiled.  
'Of course I did' she laughed, 'now you're the one being silly' she let go and carried on with her work on the small droid, and he went back to leaning on the boxes, she turned around to look at him, 'you just standing there? Fetch a cloth, you can help' she grinned and he rolled his eyes, picking up a cloth.

Luke crouched down and began polishing the other side of the droid- she smiled at him and sighed.  
'Come here- you're doing it wrong, you have to polish this way' she shoved his hands out of the way, and showed him the way she did it, 'otherwise you'll smear the grease everywhere' she smiled up and him. He nodded to her, placing his hands back where they had been and followed her method of polishing, she was confused as to why he hadn't noticed the grease- he had told her of many a droid he had polished up in his time, the last of course being Artoo and Threepio. She shook it off however and continued with her side, with his help they were done quickly, which was a blessing because her back was beginning to hurt. She stood up, letting out a small moan as her back straightened, Luke looked over to her, concern on his lovely face.  
'What's wrong?' he asked, and she smiled back.  
'Nothing Luke, I'm fine- my back is little sore is all' she rolled her eyes, 'it's been worse don't worry'  
'Hmm' he continued to frown but she smiled again.  
'How are you?' she asked him, 'I feel like we've barely spoken since you got here'  
'That's because you kept hiding from me' She looked up at him from her toolkit and blushed.  
'Well there was a reason' she muttered, looking down again.  
'I'm well Anna, I've been able to control my abilities a lot better' he sighed, 'it's difficult though- without a master' she nodded sadly at his confession, he was right. Anna barely knew anything about the Force, and anything she did know- his powers had already surpassed her abilities, it was like he was training her now.  
'I'm sorry Luke- I wish I could help you' he just shook his head, and smiled at her.  
'Don't be sorry, you've already helped me so much' she laughed again and picked up her toolkit.  
'Ugh I should really start packing for the trip with Han' she lifted it and leant it on her hip, sighing at the fact that she was going away again.  
'When do you go?' he asked her softly.  
'In a couple of days- we're picking up supplies for the ships, they've been slightly damaged by the temperatures' she explained, and he nodded to her.  
'I see, yeah- the general did mention that he needed some supplies' he put his hands on his hips and nodded to the toolkit, 'do you need some help with that?' she shook her head and smiled at his gentlemanly nature.  
'No, no- I'm fine' she chuckled slightly, 'Thank you though- will I see you at dinner?'  
'You will indeed' he smiled and she nodded to him.  
'See you later'

'So he took it well?' Leia asked Anna, who had explained what had happened with Luke to her.  
'He seemed to' she paused whilst folding a thin-ish jumper, 'but I couldn't read his feelings'  
'Well that's good I suppose' she smiled at her friend, moving over to help her pack- Anna was grateful as she was pretty useless at it.  
'Yeah I suppose so-' her tone was disheartened, and Leia looked up, confused.  
'What's wrong?' she asked Anna who went back to packing, she sighed.  
'Well it was weird-' she sighed again, 'he took it too well, I mean too well for if he actually cared'  
'Ugh believe me, A' Han interrupted, which earnt a shocked gasp from the two ladies, 'he's been moaning at me for the past twenty minutes- I had to escape' he rolled his eyes and leaned on the doorframe of her quarters.  
'When did you get here?' Anna grumbled, but she had brightened slightly at the news that Luke was bothered, _ugh what the hell is wrong with me?_  
'Right now- I ran away from him' Leia and Anna laughed, 'no, honestly- I ran'  
'Why?' Leia frowned.  
'Because I was sick to hear about his-' Han stopped speaking as Luke came through the door.  
'Hey guys' he looked rather awkward.  
'Well isn't this nice little mother's meeting in my room?' Anna joked, trying to diffuse the tension. Han wiggled his eyebrows at Anna, and went to lollop on the bed, Luke sat in the chair opposite her bed, Leia and Anna continued to pack.  
'You almost ready to get your stuff on the Falcon?' Han grunted at her, she nudged his knee with her leg and chucked a pair of trousers into the bag.  
'Yeah- do you need me to give it a look over before we fly?' she grinned at him, 'you know that it's a bucket of bolts'  
'Aww don't talk about my baby like that' she grinned even wider and sighed.  
'Is that why you could never find yourself a lady?' she teased, 'you're too in love with your ship?'  
'And himself' Leia chimed in, folding her arms across her chest and glaring, jokingly at Han.  
'Ahh Ladies, just because Luke is back doesn't mean you should start pretending you don't find me devastatingly handsome' Han grinned at Luke, who rolled his eyes at the cocky pilot.  
'You really do think a lot of yourself don't you?' Leia chuckled slightly.  
'I do indeed' Han broadly smiled at the princess. Anna laughed at Han's expression, then her attention was grabbed by the overhead tannoy system.  
'Commander Carter to subsector three of base' it said, 'report there immediately'  
Anna unhooked her communicator from her belt, it was buzzing like crazy- it was a red alert.  
'Ah crap' she groaned, hooking it back and grabbing her jacket, 'I gotta go' she ran out of her room, pausing only to nab her tools off the side cabinet.

Anna rushed down the icy corridors, her feet thudding on the white boards that made the floor a lot less slippery, she skidded at the non-boarded part and hurtled into an icy wall. She recovered herself quickly, and looked around making sure nobody actually saw that- she was clear.

When she finally arrived, Giles and a few of the engineering team were already there, she greeted them warmly, before asking what the problem was.  
'A storm has caused a part to break off the glacier above us, it's torn a hole in the lining, and generator' one of the corporals, Nuray, explained, Anna peered at it and managed to see some of the dents in the structure of the base. Anna pulled off her jacket, and pulling her overalls up, she crouched, scanning the area, she gasped when she looked at the results.  
'This is going to blow if we don't fix it straight away!' she barked at the team, she crawled under the pipes that ran the length of the corridors, 'the gas from the heating system is leaking out into the generator compartment, and with the damage sustained to the generator, it could explode' she was explaining all this as she pulled the necessary tools from her bag and began to dampen the gas leak. She grabbed a hydrospanner and plastoid taped the cracked valve up, scanning it again she found that the leak had stopped, but the amount of gas that had already escaped was still risking the generator exploding.  
'Anna what is it?' she heard Nuray asking, Anna looked up at her and grunted.  
'The generator reactor is exposed, the gas could explode any minute' her voice was breathless, she was squashed against the pipes above and below her, she used a small extractor fan to suck the gas out of the generator compartment. She reached with her protracter to try and clamp the reactor cover back, she pried the edges together and grabbed a container ring from her belt pocket. Using a sonic drill, she managed to shut off the reactor completely, sealing it in its housing, she sighed and relaxed onto the pipes that were still squashing her.  
'Did you do it?' Nuray asked, 'Anna is it safe?'  
'Yeah' Anna looked back towards her, 'its fine' she scanned the area to confirm her confidence, she was right- the leak was contained. Anna grunted as she pulled her way out of the pipe complex she was trapped in, she took Nuray's hand as help up from the floor. 'Thanks for all your help guys' Anna said sarcastically to the rest of the engineering crew that were just standing around, they looked at each other guiltily and sighed.  
She rolled her eyes at them all and picked her toolkit up, 'See you later guys' she took her jacket from Giles with a smile. She walked off down the corridor, she saw Threepio on the way back to her room.  
'Oh mistress Anna- Captain Solo has been looking for you' He stammered at her, she smiled.  
'Thanks Threepio, do you know where he is?' she asked him warmly.  
'Hangar three, I think- with the Falcon' he answered, gesturing his arm in the direction of the hangar.  
'Cheers Threepio' she tapped his shoulder and carried on to hangar three, Threepio's musing becoming a distant chatter.

'Oi Han' she called, 'where are you?' she looked around the hangar, smiling at some of the techies that were loitering around. Han came down the ramp with an empty cargo box and stared at her empty hands.  
'Where's your stuff?' he asked, as if she were the most stupid person in the entire galaxy, she rolled her eyes at him.  
'Well your welcome for saving your arse' she mockingly bowed and it was his turn to roll his eyes at her.  
'Oh I'm sorry- I didn't know we had more royalty in the house' she laughed, 'hell- did you refuse the medal ceremony?'  
'You didn't Han' she grinned, and turned to leave 'I'll be right back' she skipped off back down the corridor towards her room.

She saw Luke on the way, she caught his arm.  
'Are you still on for dinner?' he asked her, she smiled.  
'Of course- but I think Han is eager to leave straight after' she sighed, 'I wish you could come'  
'I know, I haven't even seen you since I got here' he smiled to her, but she shook her head.  
'It's alright though- I'll see you when I get back' she smiled, 'It doesn't take that long to get there- me Han and Chewie will be back within a couple of days- and besides, Leia hasn't seen you much either'  
'That's true' he nodded, 'Anna- I'll see you later- I have to see Wedge about training' she nodded.  
'I'll see you in a bit' and they strode off in opposite directions.

Once she had retrieved her small case from her quarters, along with some blaster rechargers and her thick jacket due to the chilly temperatures in the atmosphere of Hoth. She made her way back to hangar three to Han, she saw Chewbacca near the hangar bay doors.  
'Hey Chewie' she greeted the Wookie, 'are you all set for our mission?' Chewie groaned in response, nodding his head to her, 'is Han still grumbling about it?' he nodded again.  
Anna laughed as he took her bag from her, they both climbed the access ramp into the ship, and Anna found Han in the cockpit.  
'Is it still working?' she grinned at him, he frowned back.  
'That's not funny' he growled, she raised her eyebrows and her grin widened.  
'I beg to differ' she slumped her jacket down on one of the seats, 'I'm having dinner with Luke- we can set off after that?' she asked, raising an eyebrow.  
'You're getting food?' his head was the only part of him that was visible, he was crouched under the control panel, and was wearing a cheeky expression, at the mention of food he had perked right up.  
'Mmhm' she confirmed, he pulled himself up, chucking his hydro spanner on his seat.  
'Alright- lets go see what slop they've got for us tonight' he muttered as he walked past her, out of the cockpit, she followed him out.

*BREAK*

Han looked at his plate grumpily, he was sat with Anna, Luke and Chewie at one of the tables in the canteen.  
'Why do the droids always give me the worst bit?' he looked at the rest of their plates in exasperation. Luke and Anna exchanged a gleeful glance.  
'Maybe they remember all your backchat?' Luke offered with a grin, Anna laughed.  
'Watch it kid- you might leave wearing your dinner' Han grinned back.  
'What- that charming personality? How could anyone dislike you?' Anna asked, sarcastically.  
'Exactly' Han carried on eating his sludge, Anna and Luke grinned at his expression.  
'So what exactly is your mission?' Luke asked, looking between Anna and Han.  
'General Rieekan wants us to get some extra supplies for the space cruisers- and our shield generator is more vulnerable to the cold than we expected' Anna explained, between mouthfuls.  
'We also need better scanners, more long range' Han added, Luke nodded at both of their explanations.  
'Thankfully this mission is just a short one- I think I'd murder him if it were over a week' Anna grinned at Han, wiggling her eyebrows at him.  
'Aww you love me really' he smiled sweetly, and she ruffled his hair.  
'Of course' she turned and winked at Luke.

'Ugh okay I am full of slop now' Anna leant back, putting her hands on her stomach.  
'Can I have the rest of yours?' Han asked her, she grinned and shoved her plate over to him.  
'So Luke, what will you be up to?' she asked him.  
'Planning meetings really, strategies, our next moves- all that stuff' he gestured with his hand and rolled his eyes.  
'Ooh all the exciting stuff?' Anna said sarcastically, and Luke looked at her and nodded, drained.  
'Yeah- but we'll be doing some training with the squad, which will be a bit more exciting'  
'Ahh- the kid's just jealous, he's not as good of a pilot as us, eh A?' Han mocked, Anna rolled her eyes at him, and Luke looked up.  
'Oh great- you've finished eating' Luke retorted, smiling at Anna.  
'Come on you' Han clapped his hands on Anna's shoulders as he got up, leaning down on her, 'we've got a mission to run' Anna sighed, picking up her tray and getting up from the table they were at. Luke followed them over to the bins, and then out of the canteen, they all paused when they got to where the corridors interlinked.  
'I'll see you guys soon then' Luke smiled to them, he hugged Anna, then Chewbacca and did a macho-hug with Han, 'may the Force be with you' he said softly.  
'You too kid' Han replied, 'stay safe' he turned with Chewie down the corridor towards hangar three, Anna paused for a moment and smiled to him, putting her hand on his arm. He looked into her eyes and smiled.  
'See you soon Luke' and she left, to join Han and Chewbacca.

Leia was waiting for them in the hangar, Anna moved to embrace her as she neared, they hugged tightly.  
'You okay?' Anna asked her, looking in the princess's face, Leia nodded.  
'Yeah- just be careful okay?' she warned, 'it's a shady system' Han laughed.  
'We've been to worse haven't we Anna?' he grinned at Anna, then turned to look at Leia. Anna kissed the Princess on the cheek.  
'See you soon' and climbed on board, leaving Han and Leia a moment to themselves. She strapped herself into the seat behind Chewie, patting his shoulder.  
'You ready for this buddy?' she asked, he was- he always was.

Anna heard the ramp go up and turned to see Han coming into the cockpit, she grinned up at him.  
'If you hurt her- I'll kill you' she warned him.  
'I think she's more likely to hurt me' he raised his eyebrows at Anna, who was still looking at him, her eyes softened slightly, he moved past her to the cockpit seat. He powered up the Falcon, him and Chewie flicking switches on and off- they took off, slowly at first and once clear of the base and the atmosphere of Hoth, into lightspeed.  
It took them only several hours to get to Corulag, Han was quite quiet, she wondered why, but didn't dare ask. She could feel worry in him, but not hurt- so he was at least alright, she sighed.  
'It should be an easy pick up then?' she asked him.  
'Yeah- the General said that there is a group of rebel sympathisers on the outer sector of the capital'  
'Curamelle, right?' she asked, hoping that her memory served her correctly, Han nodded, 'remember that time we smuggled weapons for the mob there?' she grinned at him, and he laughed.  
'I do' he leant back, sighing, 'those were the good old days'  
'Good old days?' she gasped, 'I was shot!' he laughed.  
'Yeah- apart from that' he looked at her, and she smiled.

Anna leant forward and rubbed his arm, then leant her head on it- she was so glad that Han and Chewie were back in her life- but she always had a feeling he was on the verge of leaving.  
Chewie moaned softly, and Anna moved her head upwards to look at him, 'Well there's food in the back' she laughed, Chewie exited the cockpit and she slumped down into the co-pilot seat. She looked at Han and smiled, 'Does he ever think about anything but his stomach?' she asked him.  
'Nahh that fleabag is all about the food' he grinned.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hellooo all! Firstly I'd like to thank all those who followed and Favorited! And to marina2351, guest and Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967 for the reviews!**

 **I'd just like to warn people that there will be some suggestive themes at some point in this story, not necessarily in this chapter or any others just yet- but I've got to the point where I'm either planning or writing some scenes that might be considered a little steamy or with sex heavily implied... just a warning for now! There will of course be no explicit content (I'm considering doing an extra M-rated chapter later on... but I don't know!)  
I will give an extra warning at the start of a chapter if it is a bit steamy! **

**Anyhoo! I hope you enjoy this chapter- please leave a review to let me know what you think (or about my A/N!)**

* * *

Entering the atmosphere of Corulag was easy, it was similar to Corellia, which they were both used to flying to and from, it was much easier than flying in and out of the atmosphere of Hoth. Once inside the atmosphere, they set the coordinates for Curamelle, Anna pulled off her heavy jumper and put a thinner one on, then a thin leather jacket over the top. Her hair was growing longer, so was now pinned up in braids, not too dissimilar to the way Leia usually wore it, and Anna was proud that she had managed to do it without the princess' help. She clicked her blaster into place in the holster on her thigh, and smiled at Han who had finally landed the Falcon in one of the docking bays of Curamelle city.  
'Our rendezvous with the group is at four local time' he explained to Anna, who nodded, then looked at the clock on the dashboard, which had automatically changed to local time.  
'Well its two now- what do we do?' she asked him.  
'Well they sent us a coded message of where to meet them- so I think we should go and scope the place out' he explained to her, 'it's a bar- so won't be too difficult' he grinned and she nodded.  
'Okay, sounds like a good idea' she got up from her seat, the other two following closely behind.

They left the docking bay swiftly, and Han entered the coordinates of the bar into his communicator, it led them to the place. They walked through the door, the bar was very busy, bustling with many different species, but the barman was a human- she smiled warmly at him, leaning on the bar.  
'Three flameouts please' she asked, turning to wiggle her eyebrows at Han, he looked scared, 'go on- just like the good old days' she winked at him, and handed him and Chewbacca the drinks before going to a table in the corner. Anna scanned the cantina, she didn't spy any imperial troops, they were far to up themselves to go to a dive like that, and neither did she spot any storm troopers, and they were pretty distinctive. She did spot a couple of men that were whispering- she noted that they looked rather suspicious, but didn't get any bad feelings from them- they could be the group they were to be meeting with.  
'Are we really going to do this?' Han asked her, not talking about the meet up, but the drink, 'you know what happened last time' he laughed, so did she.  
'I do indeed, but Han- that was seven years ago- we can handle it now' she grinned- looking at each other they clinked glasses and began to drink.

*BREAK*

They had had three more flameouts before their rendezvous began, and in all honesty they felt fine- that was usually the case, before you reached your threshold you were fine- once you were past it, you were gone. Two of the men that Anna had observed earlier made their way over to their table, they said their secret code and they sat down.  
'Hi, I'm Harloth and this is Var' one of the men introduced them both, he was blonde with a short stubble beard, his friend, Var; was dark haired and green eyed. Anna and Han smiled at them both.  
'Hey' Han greeted back, 'I'm Han, this is Chewbacca and Anna' she gave the two men a small wave.  
'Hello' she said, and the two gentlemen smiled back.  
'What exactly are the parts you guys are going to be needing?' Var asked them, getting straight to the point, as Harloth took their drinks from a waitress, sliding Anna and Han's drinks to them.  
'Thanks' Anna whispered to him, holding up her glass. They clinked them all, as Han passed a piece of card over to Var who red it intently. His eyes widened.  
'That's quite a lot of gear you guys want- it may take a few days' Han leaned back in his seat looking at him.  
'We're willing to pay a high price if you can get it to us in the next forty-eight hours' he flicked a large coin over to the two men, but they still didn't look convinced. Var opened his mouth to speak- he was sceptical, but Han shot him down with a withering look, and eventually he nodded.  
'Alright- forty-eight hours' he downed his drink, 'which docking bay?' he asked Han.  
'Eighty-three' Var nodded and pulled Harloth to his feet, and they walked off. All three of them were silent for a moment, until Anna leant in and whispered to Han,  
'I'm guessing I was the muscle' he turned and gave her a look, before bursting out into laughter.

*BREAK*

It had taken seven drinks for them to reach their limit, and boy was it reached. Stumbling back to sleep it off on the Falcon had been a task and a half. Han had actually fallen asleep in the middle of the street on top of some kind of barrel. Chewie was fine, as always, and ended up carrying Han. Anna could not walk in a straight line, and fell into some random man in the street. Apologising quickly, the man actually lifted her back onto her feet, she gave him a sheepish grin and apologising again (and thanking him) she carried on after Han and Chewbacca. They eventually reached the ship, and Anna stumbled into one of the bunks- not actually noticing where the other two had crawled off to sleep, before she had drifted to sleep herself.

*BREAK*

Anna opened her eyes blearily, the dim lights inside the Falcon causing her to blink and sending shockwaves to her brain.  
'Uuugh' she moaned at the light, and her pounding headache, covering her face with her hand she shuffled her feet out of bed. She dangled them out of the bed, leaning her elbows on her knees, she covered her eyes again. She hopped down from the bunk, the force of her jump vibrating up her shins, she winced and stumbled off to the tiny kitchen section of the Falcon, to grab herself some coffee. She saw Han, he looked as bad as she felt, he grunted at her in greeting, she replied in the same fashion and reached for the coffee pot he'd already made. They both stood there in silence, drinking away the hangover- they hoped.

'Let's not do that again?' she asked him, after their second cup, raising her eyebrow at him, he just nodded.  
'I blame you' he grumbled, and she looked at him.  
'I blame me too' she rubbed her head and slumped off to the cockpit and lounged in the pilot seat next to Chewbacca, who was evidently far more better off in the morning than Han and Anna.

She sat there for a while, until Han came into the cockpit, he didn't shift her out of the way just grunted and held up his communicator.  
'The two guys we met last night have sent a distress signal' he explained to her, she sat up quickly, concerned.  
'Where is it coming from?' she frowned, 'how did they get our communication signal?'  
'It was a confidence thing- to show that we both weren't going to double-cross each other' he explained, Anna got up out of the seat and pulled on a cardigan.  
'Then we have to go' she did up the buttons on the top of the cardigan, the bottom was open, and flowed about the middle of her thigh, she left the cockpit in front of Han and padded in her socks over to her bunk. She pulled on her boots that were left on the side of her bunk, and rushed towards Han who had joined her along with Chewbacca.  
'It's coming from the outskirts of town' he said.  
'Why would they send it to us?' she wondered, frowning whilst putting her blaster in her holster, covering it quickly with her cardigan and getting up from her bunk.  
'I don't know- they must really need help' he sighed.  
'What do we do?' she was worried.  
'I guess we need to go help them' he raised his eyebrows, and she rolled her eyes.  
'Well that's a given- I mean what's our play?' it was her turn to sigh.  
'We won't know until we get there' He grabbed his jacket and pulled it on, 'come on' he stormed his way down the ramp of the Falcon, Chewie and Anna following suit.

They followed the distress signal through the streets of Curamelle, they hurried past the hustle and bustle of midday in the centre of town. Anna felt fear rise in her as they reached the outer parts of the city, she had a bad feeling about what was happening.  
'Han- we have to get there quickly- something is really wrong' she urgently said, tapping him on the arm, he nodded. She grabbed his hand and they began to run, not bothering if it blew their cover or not. She pushed past people, apologising as she knocked into them, when finally they reached the source of the distress signal.  
'Han?' she looked at him, they both tried to peer inside the window of the small building they were at, she couldn't see anything.  
'Let's go' he got up from their crouching position under the window and walked purposefully to the door, she followed quickly. Han knocked once, then again more urgently, but there was no reply she shoved his shoulder and they both drew their blasters. Anna nodded to Han and he kicked the door in, the three of them burst through the door and looked around at the small room.

Anna gasped at what she saw- the two men they had met the previous night were laid on the floor, unconscious. Var had a large head wound on his forehead, blood leaking out onto the floor, and Harloth had a blaster shot to his stomach. Anna was frozen, she didn't know what to do.  
'Han' her voice was shaky and fearful, 'are they alive?' she asked her friend, who had rushed over to check the two men.  
'Yes' he breathed, looking up to her, 'come on Anna- snap out of it- I need your help'

Anna shook herself and pulled out her tiny first aid kit from her belt, she rushed to Var's side, she rested his head on her knees and went about dressing the wound and turned around to see Han doing the same with Harloth.  
'What do we do?' she was panicking.  
'Well there's a large speeder outside' Han explained, 'Chewie gather up the parts over there' Han gestured to one of the tables around the side of the room, 'they're for the shield generator- we'll just have to figure out a way to protect the speeders and cruisers ourselves'  
Chewbacca went about gathering the parts into a bag he had found, and left the room to put them in the speeder. Anna was still trying to dress the wound, her hands shaking and when she had finished Han helped her up from the floor, he held her shoulders and shook her.  
'We're taking them back to the Falcon,' he explained to her, 'we have to get out of here it's not safe'  
'Han- why?' she asked, still shaking, 'why has this happened?' he shook his head out of confusion and shrugged.  
'I have no idea- come on' he saw Chewbacca come in and they all went about moving the two men into the speeder, Harloth began moaning in his unconscious state.

They were about to get into the speeder themselves, when blaster shots flew at them, Anna whirled around to see three men firing at them, she pulled her blaster and returned the fire. Ducking the blasts she and Han fired as Chewie started up the speeder, he howled at them to get in, Han pushed Anna in, scrambling into the back seat where Harloth was beginning to come round.

'Han come on!' she shrieked at him, he was trying to see who it was firing at them, she looked on in horror as he was hit with blaster fire in his shoulder. 'Han!' she shouted, shooting blaster shots at the men and hot one of them, before clambering back down out of the speeder to help Han inside.

Chewbacca piloted the speeder through the streets of Curamelle quickly, doing well to avoid the citizens, she was trying to patch up the wound on Han's shoulder. She was still panicking, but she took a deep breath and shook herself, continuing with a steadier hand.  
'Anna- owww' Han was groaning, but he was losing too much blood that his started slipping in and out of consciousness.  
'Han- come on' she shook him slightly, 'stay awake' but he didn't.

'Chewie- Han's unconscious' Chewbacca replied to her, 'I know that- can you lift them all on board?' Chewie nodded, and she sighed, as she saw the speeder coming into the docking bays of the city centre and looked behind her to make sure that nobody was following them.  
She jumped out of the speeder, Var was in the back- along with the parts, Harloth had been in the seat next to her and Han was in the front with Chewie. Running to the docking bay door she opened it with ease, before hurrying over to the Falcon, to start it up.  
When she had started the engine she ran back down the ramp and almost bumped straight into Chewie, who was carrying Han to the bunks in the back of the Falcon, she carried on down the ramp. Anna threw the bag of parts over her shoulder, it was heavy and she knew it will have left a bruise and checked to see if Var and Harloth were alright, they were both still breathing, but there was a lot of blood. She went back inside the ship when Chewie returned for the rest of them and headed to the cockpit- she clicked the switches and entered their course for Hoth into the ship's computer.  
Chewie stumbled into the cockpit and sat in the co-pilot's seat- she looked at him and didn't need to ask for confirmation before he nodded and she hit the controls.

*BREAK*

'Harloth- what happened back there?' She asked him, dabbing his wound- now they were in the Falcon and she had access to proper medical equipment, she was able to treat him a lot better. He winced at her movements, he was being treated last- he was the only one conscious, she looked up at him, 'sorry' she applied cooling agents and sat back on a cargo box she had pulled up.  
'We were packaging some of the stuff- but it seems the dealer we got it from stole it from someone else' he sat himself up and pulled off his shirt, wincing at the pain in his stomach, 'they weren't happy'  
'Yeah- I got that they weren't happy' she rolled her eyes at him, blushing at his perfectly sculpted chest, something she hadn't noticed whilst she was tended to him. 'We're going back to our base, so you can be treated properly' she informed him before getting up from the seat she had made, picking the box up and shoving it over her shoulder.  
'Will we be going back?' he asked her, his brow furrowed.  
'No' she explained, 'not for a while I guess' she put the box back and went back over to him, 'why? You got a family?'  
'Nahh' he shook his head, 'Var's my only family' he explained, and then looked down, 'will he be alright?'  
'Yeah' she said softly, nodding at him, 'I think so- but I'm a not a doctor' she smiled and nudged his arm. 'I'll er-' she looked at his chest, 'go get you a clean shirt' she moved to Han's bunk and pulled out one of his shirts from underneath the bunk.  
Anna kissed Han's forehead before going back over to Harloth, she held it out to him.  
'Here' he took it gratefully and smiled.  
'Is he your boyfriend?' he gestured to Han, Anna laughed.  
'Nooo' she grinned, 'he's practically my brother' she sighed, 'get some rest- I'll be in the cockpit, we'll land on base in about an hour'  
'Alright' he shifted in his bunk and pulled on the shirt, 'hey- Anna is it?' he asked her, she turned round with a smile.  
'Yeah?'  
'Thank you' he smiled appreciatively, 'for saving us' she smiled again.  
'No problem- it was actually more Han and Chewie than me' she turned and went to re-join Chewbacca in the cockpit.

*BREAK*

'Standby for landing Chewie' she said to him, as they eased the Falcon down in their usual hangar, they had already sent a signal to Echo base that there were casualties, so naturally expected a lot of people there when they landed.

They put her on the ground and lowered the ramp, Anna hurrying down it to see a frantic Leia.  
'Anna' she grabbed her arms, 'what happened?' she asked.  
'We ran into some trouble' she breathed, 'Han's been shot and we have two other casualties- they were our contacts' she looked around- 'I need a medical team in there right now' she ordered the awaiting group of people- they snapped into action as they rushed past her onto the Falcon.

'Will he be alright?' Leia asked her, and Anna hugged her.  
'Of course- I've dressed the wound and it's not too bad, he just has lost a lot of blood' she explained, 'I've had worse' she grinned at Leia and rubbed her arm and smiled.  
'Thank you Anna' she smiled back to her, 'is he just being a baby?' she grinned.  
'Yes- he is absolutely being a baby' Anna winked to Leia, they were both concerned for Han but didn't want to show it.  
'Anna?' she twirled around to find Luke, he pulled her into an embrace and Leia went off to find Han and Chewie. 'Are you alright- I heard there were casualties' he looked over her, she smiled.  
'I'm fine' she sighed, 'Han got shot- I think he'll be alright- he was hit in the shoulder and lost a lot of blood, but we got back as quick as we could and-' she was babbling and Luke caught her face in his hands, she stopped speaking and looked into his eyes, her heart was beating loudly in her chest.  
'He'll be alright Anna' he whispered, 'Anna I-' he began, but they were interrupted by the General, Anna let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and they both pulled away from each other. Anna took a couple of steps back and looked at the General.  
'Sir?' she smiled to him, Rieekan looked between the two of them.  
'Apologies for the interruption Commander but I need a brief on what happened' he looked concerned.  
'Absolutely General' she nodded to him, they walked off together, Anna turned to give Luke a small smile, he was looking at her with an odd expression, but she shook it off turning back to the General.

*BREAK*

'I'm sorry Sir, we couldn't leave them there' she was apologising for bringing Harloth and Var to the base.  
'No- of course you couldn't- you made the right call, commander' he replied softly, 'can they be trusted?' he asked her.  
'I don't know- they were willing to help, and Harloth didn't seem too upset when I told him they wouldn't be going back for a while'  
'And they don't know we're on Hoth?' Rieekan asked, and Anna nodded.  
'Var was unconscious the whole way, and Harloth never came into the cockpit- he was asleep most of the journey' she replied.  
'Very well- once they are better, I will speak to them myself' she nodded.  
'Sir, may I go and check up on Captain Solo?' she asked.  
'Of course- thank you Commander'  
'I will have my engineers to apply the parts to the shield generator, and we'll keep working on the speeders, see if we can't find a solution to the problem ourselves' she told him before she left the briefing room.

She rushed to the medical bay and found Han complaining greatly to the poor staff, Leia was stood the other side of the room, next to Luke.  
'Would you stop it-' he started, 'hey- A, would you tell them to stop poking me with that?' he'd noticed her, and gestured to the nurse prodding his wound with a needle.  
'Oh shut it you- she's only helping' Anna walked over to her friend's bedside, 'nice to see you awake- you had us all worried for a second', Chewie moaned in agreement.  
'Humph' he grumbled, and sat back on his bed and let the nurse inject his wound with the fast-healing gel, he winced.  
'Stop it with the grumpy face' she nudged him and went to stand with Luke, Leia crossed back over to Han and began speaking in a low voice to him. Anna could probably hear if she strained her hearing, but she didn't want to intrude on the two of them, she turned back to Luke.  
'Do you want to take a walk?' she asked him, he was pulled out of a daydream.  
'Hm- what?' he looked at her with a smile.  
'I said do you want to take a walk' nodding her head slightly towards Leia and Han.  
'Ohh- yeah sure' he nodded and they both left the medical bay.  
'See you later, you three' she smiled and left with Luke.

'I'm glad you're alright Anna' he looked over at her, as they were walking through the base, casually.  
'Me too, aha' she laughed, and grinned 'It was really scary- it's not like they were storm troopers- they actually hit stuff'  
'Sounds it' he agreed.

'Luke!' someone called from down the corridor, they both turned around to see Wedge.  
'Hiya Wedge- I haven't seen you in a while' Anna hugged him, he smiled to her and then turned to Luke.  
'They want you and Anna to go help with the shield generator, they need someone to do a circle and place some scanners anyway' he explained.  
'Alright- we'll go and put some more layers on' he laughed and him and Anna hurried back to their rooms.

Anna put on a thick coat and pulled on her snow boots, grabbing her gloves and toolkit she left her room to see Luke standing outside.  
'You ready?' he asked and she nodded.  
'Here hold this will you' she held out her toolkit to him and put on her gloves, 'thanks' she took it back and they continued to the hangar, getting on a Tauntaun each they head out to the shield generator.

The creatures stank, really badly, and Anna was grateful for the hat which covered her face, they also had a nasty tendency to spit- something that she also despised. She had pulled her googles down over her face because it had started to snow and she really didn't want her eyebrows to freeze, they managed to get to the generator quickly.  
Anna hopped down off her Tautaun and smiled in greeting to the engineers, rolling her eyes when she realised that actually they couldn't see her face, she pulled the goggles and face mask off.  
'Commander' one of them greeted her.  
'What seems to be the issue here?' she asked, looking through the snow to the exposed parts of the generator.  
'Well ma'am we can't seem to get the connection up and running' he explained, and she nodded, pulling her case down from her Tauntaun, looking over at Luke she called to him.  
'Luke?' he looked up at her, 'you get on and do your circle- we want to get in before this get heavier' she gestured to the sky and he nodded. 'Stay on radio though!' she shouted after him.

Anna went about fixing the connection with the new parts and the originals, it took longer than Luke did doing his circle, but eventually they got it to work.  
'Only thing left is to check if it actually produces a shield' she laughed nervously, the cold was beginning to come through her gloves, making her fingers numb. 'Echo base, this is echo two' she radioed in, 'switch on the shield please' she requested, pulling everyone back from the generator, bare being able to see it through the snow.  
'Commencing activation of the shield' the reply came in, Anna prayed it would work- knowing that they couldn't be out in the cold for much longer.  
It hummed and buzzed and then crackled to life- spurting its energy out of the generator.  
'Shield is activated and stable, echo 2' came a reply on the radio.  
'We have a shield!' she exclaimed, and sighed at the rest of them, blinking through the thick snow coming down, 'come one everyone- back inside, before we freeze to death'

They packed up their stuff and clambered onto the Tauntauns, making it inside just before the blizzard really did start to pick up.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I actually cannot wait to post the next chapter... so it will be up in a couple of days! :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**So I actually couldn't wait to post this chapter to see what people think!**

 **Thank you to** **Catherine12090 and Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967 for the reviews and to all those who favourited and followed!  
I hope you enjoy this chapter (I really do!) so pleeeeease let me know what you think! **

* * *

'Here, try this' Luke suggested, as Anna tried to free an unwanted piece of tiny asteroid that had wormed its way into one of the engines in Luke's fighter. He handed her a pair of plyers, she looked over her shoulder at him as she was trying to free the stubborn little bugger.

'Luke- next time you go on a mission- could you try not to damage one of my ships?' she grinned, and he sighed- rolling his eyes at her, 'also- if you could avoid almost death, that would be great too'  
'Thanks Anna- I hadn't thought of avoiding death before!' he remarked, sarcastically, 'I'll give it a try next time'  
She laughed, it had been eight months since Han had been shot, and the base was coming together nicely, apart from the cold. Luke had been on a long mission, which had taken him away for two months- so Anna was desperately happy to see him- even if he had managed to screw up his landing by running into the asteroid field which kept dropping meteors onto the ice planet every few weeks. She knew that now Luke was back, that she too would be sent on a mission- something which Rieekan had been planning for weeks, so she was disappointed that she would only have a couple of days with him, until she herself would have to go. In the time he had been away, Luke had turned twenty-two, Han had given Leia a small thermal heater, to 'warm her heart' as he put it- Leia was not amused, but kept it all the same, the heating systems were being awfully awkward.

'Ah shit' she exclaimed, grabbing her hand before the blood started pouring down her arm, it was to no avail. The screwdriver that she had gone on to using had pulled the piece of rock free, but in doing so had slipped and cut her hand open. She squeezed it with her left hand, trying to stop a lot of blood loss, but it was still bucketing through her fingers and down her olive green top, she turned around to Luke.  
'What's wrong?' he asked her, then saw her hand-arm situation, 'woah- that's disgusting' he looked pale.  
'You afraid of blood Skywalker?' she asked him, her eyebrow raised and a sort of grin-grimace expression.  
'No' he laughed, nervously, 'I'm not- just that's quite a lot' he put his hand on her shoulder and elbow, steering her to one of the seats next to the ship.  
'Here- hand me that would you?' she asked him, gesturing to one of the clean cloths she hadn't used yet, he passed it to her quickly. She lifted her left hand off the cut, it was very deep and the blood was such a dark red it was almost black, she grabbed the cloth and tied it around very quickly. 'It's going numb- I think I need one of the medical droids to fix me' she laughed at him, getting up they both hastily made their way to the medical bay.  
'Are you alright?' he looked at her face as they were walking down the icy corridors.  
'Yeah why?' she asked, looking back, 'you know, apart from the six-inch slash in my hand' she laughed, and then jumped as Han swooped out from a side corridor to just behind them.  
'Oooh-er what's six inches?' he laughed, she rolled her eyes and spun around, shoving her hand with a blood-stained cloth in his face. He dodged it quickly, ducking her arm.  
'This is' she grinned, and carried on walking, Han following closely behind.  
'How'd you do that?' he asked, grabbing her shoulder to get another look.  
'Oh it's all Luke's fault' she grinned at Luke, who was looking guilty, 'he was a fool and entered an asteroid belt'  
'Kid- you're a fool' Han looked at him, and put his arm round Luke's shoulder.  
'I-' he started, and then stopped sighing, he looked down, 'I know' they rounded the corner to the medical bay.

'Cheer up grumpy' Anna giggled, her smile widened, and she kissed Luke on the cheek. The door slid open and they all stumbled inside, Anna walked over to the minor injury section and one of the droids said that they'd see to her.

Han didn't like looking at the heeling gel being added to the wound, and Anna didn't like it being done- it stung very badly and she winced a great deal. Han was frowning at her face, she spotted him.  
'What?' she questioned, he shook himself but still frowned.  
'Have you cut your hair?' he asked her and she laughed slightly.  
'Yeah- Leia cut it earlier, it was way too long for my liking' she said, using her other hand (now clean from blood) to tuck her short hair behind her ear. Over the past eight months it had grown to just above her waist, but she had been fed up of putting it up, so Leia had cut it to just above her shoulders, her soft curls making it bounce up to chin-level.  
'It looks nice Anna' Luke commented, looking at her, she made eye-contact with him her eyes questioning.  
'Thanks Luke' she smiled at him.

Once the gel had worked, she thanked the droid and the three of them left, they rounded a corner and Anna, being distracted by Luke, bumped full-force into Sikes.  
'Ah- sorry' she went bright red, retreating from him quickly.  
'It's okay Commander Carter' he said coolly, still not quite happy with her, 'I needed to speak to you- about our mission' he informed her.  
'Our mission?' she asked him, confused, and looked at Han- who was trying desperately to wipe a grin off his face, and failing.  
'Yes, you and I will be travelling to Haashimut, to connect with some of the rebels that got lost during the evacuation of Yavin Four' he explained, Anna groaned internally- this was just what she needed.  
'Haashimut?' she asked, her brow furrowed- she didn't remember ever coming across that planet before.  
'Yes- it's in the outer rim, so not far away- a few hours' worth of travelling' he replied, and she almost sighed audibly- thankfully she wouldn't be away for long.  
'Ahh alright- I think I remember it now' she smiled, 'when do we go?' she asked him.  
'We are scheduled to leave at o-three hundred hours' he was being very cold, but that might have something to do with how close Luke was stood to her.  
'Okay- I'll see you then' she smiled again, 'are we taking your ship?'  
'We are indeed' he half smiled, before turning and leaving. Anna let out a sigh when he was gone and looked pointedly at Han, he laughed.  
'Woah- you could cut the tension in here with a knife' Han commented, and Anna looked at him- frustrated.  
'Oh shut it' she grumbled, 'you're not helpful'  
'I never intended to be' he grinned and then turned to Luke, 'so kid- what do you think on this subject matter? Anna- going away with Sikes, on a mission- all alone' Han winked at Luke, who looked positively furious.  
'Argh' Anna exclaimed angrily and stormed off, Han following closely behind, with Luke on his tail, 'go away' she turned to look at Han.  
'Awww come on A- I was only joking' he whined and she stopped to look at him.  
'You're a pain' she glared at him, but couldn't keep from grinning at his cheeky face, Luke, however was still not happy.  
'Drink before you go?' Han asked them, they both nodded and he started off down the corridor to his room, Anna reached over and took Luke's hand, squeezed it gently, before they followed Han.

Leia had found them on the way, eyeing Anna and Luke's joined hands- she meaningfully looked at Anna and she rolled her eyes at the princess' gaze. She let go of Luke's hand when she got inside Han's room and went to sit on his bunk with Leia. Han went over to the cupboard by his bed and got out a small bottle, grinning cheekily at Anna.  
'Hey that's mine!' she blurted, recognising the bottle, 'I thought I lost it!'  
'Well- look you found it again!' he retorted, pulling out some glasses and passing them around, before he began pouring the Corellian Brandy into them. They all clinked their glasses before they began sipping at it, Anna loved the taste of the stuff, the dull burning sensation in the throat made her laugh- remembering old times, which made Han laugh too- they grinned manically at each other and sighed.  
'Do you remember that night you stole a storm trooper's helmet?' Han asked her, she laughed but shook her head.  
'No- but I remember waking up with a storm trooper's helmet' she laughed, 'I had to get rid of it before he came to look for it'  
'Good job too- he was angry' Han explained to Leia, who laughed.  
'You too used to get into more trouble than me- and I helped run a rebellion' Leia laughed, not believing how that was possible.  
'Yeah- we were criminals though' Anna sighed 'so we were bound to get into more trouble'  
'Ours just didn't usually involve the imperials' Han added, 'apart from when Anna got drunk' Anna gave him a gleeful smile.  
'What? They're so dumb' she looked at Luke and nodded, he gave her a smile.  
'Who did it usually involve?' Leia frowned, looking at them both, the two ex-smugglers exchanged a look and sighed.  
'Jabba the Hutt' they said at the same time and then laughed.  
'Yeah- usually any mob leaders, but Jabba's the worst' he scoffed, drinking some more.  
'Really?' Luke asked them, leaning on the frame of the bunk next to Anna.  
'Seriously' Anna confirmed with a pointed look, 'I would rather die than become one of his slaves'  
'I'm sure you wouldn't' Leia rolled her eyes at her, and Anna let out a small, bitter laugh.  
'You haven't seen what they wear' Anna said, sighing.  
'Why?' Luke asked her, 'what do they wear?' and Anna looked at Han with a grin.  
'Not a lot'

*BREAK*

Anna sighed after finishing her drink, she handed Han the glass and got up off the bunk.  
'I should probably go and pack' she groaned, 'Really don't want to go'  
'Of course you do- it's with Sikes' Han smirked at her.  
'Oh yeah- absolutely' she rolled her eyes, and smiled to Leia, 'see you soon' Luke pushed himself away from the wall where he had been leaning and also handed Han his glass, he looked at Anna.  
'I'll come with you- I can help you pack' he offered softly, she looked at him.  
'I'm only going for a couple of days- but alright' she smiled and they left the room, waving goodbye to Han and the princess.

Luke walked with Anna as she made her way back to her quarters, he was unusually quiet, and she nudged his shoulder.  
'What's up with you?' she asked with a smile, he sighed and looked at her.  
'Nothing Anna, I'm alright' but she could sense the lie.  
'You do realise that I can sense when you're lying?' she asked him, his eyes widened.  
'No?' he said, weakly, she let out a small laugh.  
'Well, I can so spill' she smiled at him again, and he sighed, again.  
'Anna- I-' he stopped, and she stopped walking to look at him.  
'You what, Luke?' she probed softly, 'what's wrong?' he looked into her eyes and leaned towards her.  
'I-I,' he stammered again, he couldn't get his words out, and she reached out with the Force but it seemed now he had his mind guarded, she couldn't even read his expression. Her eyes egged him on, but he lowered his gaze and exhaled. 'I'm sorry about your hand' she frowned, and looked down at it.  
'Luke- its fine' she smiled, and held her hand out to him, 'see'  
Luke took her hand gently, and ran his finger over the faint pink line across her palm, and she saw an opportunity to lighten the mood, she winced, making him jump- his eyes widened in concern and he moved away from her. She laughed at him and his face went from concern to mock-anger, he grabbed her and she carried on laughing.  
'That's funny' she said between laughs, he had his hands on her waist.  
'No its not- I thought I'd hurt you!' he exclaimed, but he had a grin on his face.  
'Nawww I'm sorry' she hugged him, 'you were just being so serious' she leaned away to look into his face, his hands still on her waist and hers on his shoulders. He smiled at her and dropped his gaze before looking back into her eyes. Her blue eyes searched his as to what he had really wanted to say- but it went from her mind when his face got closer to hers, she leaned in- still gazing into each other's eyes, they eventually dropped their eyes and their lips were mere millimetres away from each other.  
'Oh- excuse me Mistress Anna, Master Luke' they turned and saw Threepio standing in front of them, they moved out of the way and he walked in between them. Anna sighed, and gave Luke an amused expression, before carrying on down the corridor with him. They didn't really speak the rest of the way to her quarters, Anna's mind was on what almost occurred, and she figured Luke's must be also. She had known for a while that Luke was more than just a friend to her- but she didn't know if he actually felt the same way, she hoped he did.

When they got to her room she went inside, but Luke paused for a moment. Popping her head back out of the door, she smiled.  
'You coming in?' she commented, he nodded and followed her in.  
'What planet is it you're going to again?' he asked her, crossing the room to sit in one of her chairs.  
'Haashimut' she answered, going to her cupboard to get clothes out, 'it's a lot warmer than here- kind of like Tatooine actually' she turned and smiled at him before sighing. 'I don't think I have anything for a warm planet' she laughed, and Luke got up and walked over to her.  
'We did have to evacuate in a hurry' he chuckled, 'wait- what's that?' he asked, pulling out a black garment from one of her open drawers.  
'Err Luke' she laughed, 'that's my bra'  
'Oh-' he dropped it quickly, looking embarrassed, she grinned.  
'Did girls not wear them on Tatooine?' she giggled.  
'Um- I don't think so' he started, 'not that I ever saw-' she laughed again.  
'Oh Luke' she leant in and kissed his cheek, before continuing rooting through the cupboard to find anything she could take. She eventually found a thin shirt and lightly coloured trousers that would do just fine, she shoved them in her bag and turned round to look at Luke- she smiled slightly.  
'Are you okay?' she asked him softly.  
'Yeah' he said, looking away from her.  
'Jeeze Luke- what did I say before?' she laughed, 'seriously what's up?'  
'Ugh Anna- would you just leave it?' he got up angrily, not looking her in the face.  
'Sorry' she whispered, turning from him and fiddling with her bag.  
'No- I'm sorry Anna' he moved over to her and she turned round to face him, she caught his face in her hands and smiled.  
'What is it?' she asked again gently, he looked at her for a moment and then sighed.  
'Anna- I'm jealous' he looked down and she dropped her hands from his face, and frowned.  
'Of who? Han and Leia?' she queried, he just rolled his eyes at her.  
'No Anna, don't be silly' he sighed turning his back on her, 'I shouldn't be jealous- because, well- I just shouldn't, but I am and I'm sorry'  
'Luke- I don't understand' she was confused, he wasn't making any sense.  
'You kissed Sikes and I didn't like it' he blurted, he'd spun around and his face was flushed red.  
'Oh' she sighed, putting her hands on her hips, her eyes softened.  
'Yeah' he grumbled, he couldn't meet her gaze.  
'You know why I did it though?' she sighed, 'Because I'm a horrid person and I missed you' he didn't reply- just looked fixedly at her.

Exhaling, she crossed the room over to him quickly, she put her arms around his neck and kissed him. He was surprised, but he started to kiss her back, his arms wound around her waist- his hands on her back. Their kiss deepened, and her hands went from his neck through his hair- to his face. They eventually ran out of breath and pulled apart, their foreheads touching, brushing her thumbs against his cheeks, she smiled to him.  
'Woah' he breathed, looking deep into her blue eyes. He pulled a strand of her curly hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear, 'that was- erm- nice' he grinned, and she smiled, pulling away from him slightly.  
'What's the time?' she whispered, trying to see her clock, he turned around and sighed.  
'Two-forty' he said softly, it was her turn to sigh.  
'I guess I should go' she looked him in the eye and smiled slightly, he nodded before leaning in to kiss her again- softly pressing his lips against hers, before smiling against them.  
'I'll see you when you get back' he whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine, in that moment she didn't want to go anywhere. She pulled away from him, keeping hold of his hand, she picked up her bag, kissed his hand and left- before he could do anything more that would make her want to stay.

Anna walked down the corridor wishing that she was staying with Luke, his kiss had been exquisite. When she reached the hangar, Sikes was already there- giving the ship a once-over before take-off, she waved to him.  
'Put your stuff on board, Anna- I'll be in, in a second' he called to her, she nodded as he stepped under one of the wings looking intently at it. Anna climbed the ramp and she shoved her stuff onto one of the tables that were in the comfort quarters of the ship, and made her way to the cockpit. She slumped into the co-pilot seat, hoping to get this over and done with as soon as possible, although she did like Sikes, and hoped that she might be able to resolve things with him.

He came in after a few minutes and raised his eyebrows to her in a greeting, before sitting down and taking controls. She helped him with the lift off and soon they were flying out of Echo Base, across the snowy landscape and out of the atmosphere, on the way to Haashimut.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Anna was playing with her hands in the awkwardness, but eventually she looked over at him.  
'How are you?' she asked him, with a weak smile.  
'I'm well thank you' he replied, 'And you?'  
'I am too' she smiled broadly, and tried to wrack her brain for anything else that she could say.  
'I bet it's nice having Skywalker back after such a long mission' he remarked, purposefully- her smile faltered and she looked down.  
'Look-Jouren' she started, 'I acted awfully, and behaved horribly.' She paused for a sigh, 'you're a really good friend and I don't want to lose you, and I know that I shouldn't ask for your forgiveness because you probably hate me-'  
'Anna' he interrupted her, 'I don't hate you- I love you' she paled, her eyes went wide, she had no idea what to say.  
'Jouren- I-' she started, but he took her hand quickly.  
'Anna, I know you don't feel the same way' he sighed, 'you're in love with Skywalker-'  
'Woah- no I'm not' she spluttered.  
'Yes you are' he squeezed her hand, 'I just had to tell you Anna, I'm sorry' he looked down, she was still reeling from his comments.  
'Sikes- _I'm_ sorry!' she replied, 'I shouldn't have kissed you in that way' she said softly.  
'Please don't be' he shook her hand gently, getting her to look at him, 'it was lovely'  
'You know, I love you too Jouren, just-' she stopped, and he smiled at her, kissing her hand he sat back in his seat, they were silent for a few minutes, and Anna stared out of the window at the stars.

'Anna?' he said, quietly, she looked over at him.  
'Mmm?' she raised an eyebrow.  
'You'll never lose me- I promise' she smiled at him and then went back to looking at the stars- thanking them that they would be alright now.

 _Well that had all been a bit sudden._

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 **Well then... They finally kissed! Woo! I hope you enjoyed it**

 **Thank you for reading! :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Helloo to you all! I'm glad people liked the last chapter- I enjoyed writing it! Thank you for all the follows and** **favourites! And also to those who have reviewed, thank you;** **Rocket Rover, Guest, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967 and Catherine12090 :)**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter- please leave a review and let me know!**

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It had taken a little over two hours to reach Haashimut, and although they had surpassed the awkward phase and the profession of love- they hadn't spoken a great deal. Sikes had explained the mission to them, Commander Soole had managed to find their frequency from the old rebel codes he remembered and had sent a signal to them. A small group of the rebels had got pulled away from the convoy and then picked up an imperial trail and could not get back to Hoth. They were meeting them in yet another cantina, Anna and Sikes with Soole and one of his corporals, before they would gather the rest of the forty or so rebels, who have been hiding out in the city centre for over two years, and leading them back to the base.  
Anna got up when the computer said they were thirty minutes away, and smiled to Sikes.  
'I'm going to get changed- it's a desert planet right?' He nodded to her,  
'Good idea- I'll go after you' he smiled and she left the cockpit.

Anna undressed quickly, and then pulled on a vest, with a loose cream shirt over the top, putting sandy-coloured trousers on and matching boots she went back into the cockpit and tapped Sikes shoulder. She sat down in her seat and it was his turn to leave, they were coming up on the planet, and the computer started to bleep as the ship had to drop out of lightspeed. Anna turned off the hyperdrive and took the controls gently, knowing that the computer would guide the ship to Haashimut anyway. She guided it into the atmosphere and Sikes came back just as she was starting the landing cycle, he sat down and they completed it together.

'We're running a little late Anna' he said once the clock had adjusted to local time- he placed his blaster in its holster and got up, Anna followed him- getting a sense of Déjà Vu. They descended the ramp and Anna looked around at the dusty planet. The city was bare, small sad huts scattered around, with a larger built-up area off the West of town, that's the direction they were headed Sikes informed her by walking off ahead. It reminded her very much of a less populated Mos Eisley, there was only one sun on Haashimut, but it was closer than a usual sun, causing beads of sweat to form on Anna's forehead and baking her skin, it didn't help it was just past midday.  
They eventually found the bar that they were to meet Soole in, Sikes gave her a look that meant 'be careful' before he entered the bar and Anna straight after.  
She looked round the bar, in all honesty it was like every other cantina in the galaxy, and it was also fully of scumbags- like every other cantina in the galaxy. She had noticed a couple of Stormtroopers milling around one of the streets close to the bar, knowing they would have to be careful not to attract attention to themselves anyway, but being extremely careful- there was no way to tell who was spying for the empire.  
Anna spotted Soole across the bar, in one of the booths in the far side- she followed Sikes over to the bar. Sikes ordered a beer and Anna ordered a Flameout, she thought she'd be fine with just one, oddly the bartender said that he'd bring them over to them, Anna looked at Sikes- puzzled, but they just nodded and continued over to the booth.  
'Commander Soole' Sikes greeted him, sitting next to the woman whom he was with.  
'Commander Sikes, Commander Carter- it's good to see you' Anna smiled to him.  
'And you- it's been a long time' she sighed and sat down next to Sikes.  
'This is Corporal Jaina' he introduced the lady next to Sikes, they both nodded in greeting while the bartender brought the drinks over.  
'Thanks' Anna said, taking her glass quickly, 'so are you ready to come back to us?'  
'After over two years on this dusty rock? Hell yeah' he scoffed, and Anna sipped at her drink, taking quite a gulp.  
'Well good' Sikes smiled to him and passed him the coordinates of the Hoth system, 'we'll leave in two hours-okay?' he asked and Soole nodded, pocketing the coordinates. Anna took another sip, and then frowned- something wasn't quite right. Her tongue began to burn a lot more than it usually did with a Flameout, she felt her eyes begin to prickle, her throat seize up, her eyes went wide with panic. Sikes went to sip his drink and she quickly batted it away with her hand- letting the glass smash onto the floor, he looked at her and frowned and then watched in horror as he saw the floor begin to fizz. She clutched her throat, a trail of blood coming from her left nostril, her eyes began to droop and she collapsed out of the booth- sideways.  
'She's been poisoned!' Sikes exclaimed, before pulling her up off the floor, she was half-unconscious, but mumbling, but she could still hear everything that was going on, 'Get your crew ready- we're leaving straight away!' he barked at the other two, before pulling Anna up into his arms.  
'Look out- Stormtroopers!' Anna heard Soole call, before she heard shots, she groaned and half opened her eyes- she saw two troopers on the floor. Her eyes were rolling back in her head, and she felt Sikes run, bouncing her as he ran out of the bar and down the streets- back to the ship, once up the ramp her world went black and she lost consciousness.

*BREAK*

'ANNA!' she heard Han shriek, 'Anna!' it pulled her out of unconsciousness slightly, her eyes opened a crack and she rolled her head to the side- Sikes had carried her down the ramp, the hangar was filled with a lot of people, they were all staring at Han, who was running through the crowd. Han took her from Sikes and she groaned in greeting.  
'Anna what the hell have you done now?' he looked down at her as he half-ran through the corridors.  
'Ugghh' she groaned and lifted her hand to touch his cheek before falling unconscious again.

*BREAK*

'She should wake up now' Anna heard one of the nurses in the medical wing say faintly, her eyelids becoming lighter, but she couldn't seem to open them. Several minutes went by before she heard a loud sigh.  
'Susanna Aurelia Carter – open your damn eyes!' Han called at her, she raised her eyebrows and her eyes flickered open, blearily blinking from the light.  
'Well I haven't heard that name in a long time' she said huskily, desperately in need of a drink, she turned to look at him and he brushed her hair from off the side of her face.  
'You had me scared for a minute there' she took his hand and smiled, pressing it against her cheek.  
'You're not getting rid of me that easily' she grinned, 'where's Luke?' she asked, and Han nodded to across the other side of the bed- she turned her head and saw him standing there with a concerned and confused look on his face.  
'I'm glad you're alright Anna' he bent down to kiss her forehead and smiled, stroking her hair.  
'How long have I been out?' she asked slowly, and then looked around, 'where's Leia?'  
'You've been out four weeks' Han explained, 'and she's just in a meeting with the General- she'll come and see you later' he reassured her.  
'Four weeks?' she was shocked, pressing a hand to her forehead, the ache of being laid down for too long throbbing around her head.  
'Yeah- they gave you some pretty strong stuff- if Sikes hadn't got you out when he did- well-' Han looked down at his hands and leaned back against the wall. They were all silent for a moment, Luke was still leaning on the bed and held her hand.  
'Susanna?' he asked, and she looked at him with a smile.  
'That's my full name' she laughed, rolling her eyes, 'Han only calls me it when he's really cross or really worried' she grinned, easing herself up in the bed, onto her elbows and reached for the glass of water next to the bed.  
'How did I not know that?' Luke asked softly, and she smiled at him.  
'I don't use it' she replied with a short laugh.  
'Why not?' he queried with a frown, 'it's beautiful'  
'Yeah Susie- it's beeeautiful' Han mocked, and she sighed.  
'That's why' Luke realised, with a laugh.  
'Yep- I hate being called Susie' she explained, 'and it doesn't really fit a smuggler does it?' she said bemused.  
'No' he paused, 'I guess not' he grinned at her, and Han sighed at the message coming over the comlink.  
'I've got to go and do a patrol' he groaned, leaning down to kiss her forehead, 'stay out of trouble- I'll be back soon, okay?' she nodded to him and he left, she sat up on her bed and swung her feet over the edge. Luke took her hands and helped her up, she stumbled slightly from the weakness of not using her muscles for weeks, but she managed to regain her balance after he helped her stand.  
'Thanks' she shot him a grateful glance- then looked down at herself, she was wearing a beige jumpsuit with the rebel insignia on it- it was comfortable and warm, she quite liked it. Luke pulled her into a hug once she had regained her senses, he held her tightly and kissed her hair.  
'I was so worried Anna' he whispered to her, 'I felt it-'  
'You felt it?' she asked him, pulling away to look into his face, his eyes were full of concern and his brow was furrowed.  
'Through the Force- you were in pain, and I felt it' he said quietly, he looked down away from her and she pulled him into a hug again.  
'I'm okay though- I'm fine' she reassured him and he held her at arms-length looking her over.  
'You better be' he warned, jokingly, and she smiled at his grin, 'oh- happy birthday for three days ago by the way' he laughed.  
'My birthday?' she frowned, 'I'm twenty-two- that's weird' she laughed.  
'What do you mean?' he asked her puzzled, before sitting on the bunk and holding her waist to prevent her from falling, looking into her eyes- which he was level with now he was sitting on the high bed.  
'I wake up and I'm a year older' she laughed at her oddness, 'it's just weird'  
'Yeah- I guess' he smiled at her quirks, pulling her closer to him. She put her hands around his neck and lent in to brush her lips against his, he kissed her back softly as she ran her fingers through his hair.  
'Are you okay?' she asked him when they broke apart, he was playing with her hands, he looked up to her with his big blue eyes.  
'I feel a lot better now you're awake' he admitted, 'but I'm okay I guess' he smiled to her and leaned in to kiss her again, a bit stronger this time, she pulled him up off the bed into an embrace. They kissed for longer too, one of his hands on her lower back, the other in her hair-holding her to him. She was on her tip-toes as he was a good few inches taller than her, and when they ran out of breath she went back down flat onto her feet, looking up at him, her blue eyes shining with delight at the kiss. He blushed at her, looking down and stepping away from her, sitting down on the bed again, looking all embarrassed all of a sudden. She smiled at him, he was very shy sometimes- not being able to shake the farmboy personality he had joined the rebellion with.  
'I guess I should go and see Rieekan- asking what my next mission will be' she said to him, he looked up at her and frowned.  
'Anna, you need to recover-' he started but she rolled her eyes.  
'Luke I can't lay in a bed for another week' she laughed, 'I would lose my mind' he nodded in agreement.  
'I suppose so' he said slowly, 'at least let me come on your next mission with you?' he asked her.  
'Luke, you don't have to do that- I'll probably have Han with me, and that reminds me- I need to find Sikes to thank him' she smiled, but he got up and took her hands, looking into her eyes.  
'Anna-please let me' he said softly, she looked at him for a second.  
'Alright' she sighed, with a grin before going to pull her boots on over the jumpsuit she was wearing, she got up and started to leave gesturing him to follow but he took her hand that led her to turn around. She spun to face him, his eyes were soft and he took her face in his hands- brushing his lips ever so slightly against hers, before letting go and leaving the room- holding her hand.

They walked down the corridor of the freezing base, Anna was trying to hide her shivering but it was becoming futile and Luke pulled her into an embrace with his arm around her shoulder. They carried on walking, passing by a few people they knew- they all said it was nice to see her up and about, she smiled- the alliance really was a huge family. She even saw Var and Harloth; they'd been assigned jobs in the communication centre and seemed to be really loving life in the rebellion, Harloth had hugged her, something that had made Luke stiffen, but she elbowed him to stop it.

'Anna?' she heard Sikes from down a small deviation in the corridor where there were access panels to the heating system, she turned to look at him and pulled away from Luke.  
'Sikes!' she was happy to see him, he dropped his tools and embraced her warmly.  
'I'm so glad to see you up- I visited whilst you were asleep' he looked embarrassed whilst Luke stood there, but she ignored it, 'You've been out a while'.  
'I know I can't believe how long I was out for' she nodded at him, with a smile, 'You saved my life- thank you so much' she held onto his hands, 'I owe you one' she grinned, he smiled back.  
'Meh' he shrugged, brushing off her comment, 'you saved me from drinking my batch of the nasty stuff'  
'Well I wasn't going to let you drink it now, was I?' she laughed, 'I still owe you one- I'll see you later?' and he nodded, before she waved goodbye and carried on with Luke to see Rieekan. She had adjusted to the temperature outside of the medical bay, so she was no longer shivering, but there were Goosebumps on the back of her neck that she couldn't seem to shake.

Once they reached the briefing room next to the command centre, the door slid open and they stepped inside, finding Leia and Rieekan sat at a table. Leia's eyes brightened when she saw Anna, she got up from her seat and rushed to her side- pulling Anna into a tight hug.  
'Anna- I'm so glad you're-'she paused, trying not to let her emotions show too much, _typical Leia- I love you too._  
'I'm glad to see you Carter' Rieekan had made his way over to her, he patted her shoulder when Leia had let her go, 'we were all a bit worried there for a bit'  
'Well the medical team do a fab job' she smiled, 'I'm here to get another mission Sir'  
'So soon?' he asked, confused, she nodded and the four of them made their way over to the large table he and Leia had been sat at, the princess sat next to Anna and Luke opposite, Leia took Anna's hand and Anna squeezed it gently.  
'Sir, I would love to get up and about doing something' she explained, and he nodded slowly.  
'Well- alright' he agreed with a huff, 'I am sending Captain Solo on a mission, and in all honesty I was worried about sending him alone after this' he explained.  
'I would be happy to go, General' she smiled.  
'I've volunteered to go too' Luke chimed in, Rieekan raised his eyebrows but nodded with a sigh.  
'Alright' he started, 'you fly in a week- Ord Mantell is the planet we need you to go to pick up some supplies for the X-wings, it's not a dangerous mission as such, just routine '  
'Ahh' Anna leaned back, 'are they still not adapting to the cold?' she asked with a puzzled expression.  
'No- we fixed that, we're just out of cables and blaster rechargers' he explained, Anna paled- knowing that it meant he was preparing for a battle- but she couldn't sense worry in him, so concluded that it was just a precaution.  
'Well then- are we taking the Falcon?' she asked.  
'You are' Leia informed her, 'as long as it hasn't exploded or died in the next week' she said with a grin, Anna laughed.  
'That might be a first' she grinned at Luke.  
'Well, we can only hope' Rieekan chuckled softly, 'Captain Solo has just come in the South entrance- you might want to discuss the mission with him' he suggested, she nodded and got up.  
'Trying to get rid of me Sir?' she joked.  
'I would never dream of it Commander' he laughed at her, 'it's good to see you're alright' the last part was said more seriously, Anna gave him a look of thanks, before turning to Luke.  
'Come on Skywalker- let's go find pilot hot-shot' she grinned at Leia who rolled her eyes, and Luke let out a laugh before following her out of the briefing room.

'Luke?' she called him, he was in a bit of a daydream walking next to her  
'Mmmm?' he looked at her with a smile  
'Can we practice some meditation later? I feel I need to clear out my head' she laughed nervously, hoping that it didn't sound stupid.  
'Aha of course we can' he put his muscly arm across her shoulders and pulled her closely into his body- she smiled, pressing her head against his chest.  
'Thanks' she said, and they walked off to find Han, which wasn't actually difficult as when they rounded a corner and saw him pulling off the hat and coverings they used to shield from the cold.  
'Anna? Are you cold?' he frowned at them both.  
'I am a little- but this is an ice planet remember' she grinned at him.  
'Go and get some hot food or something' he told her, 'it will warm you up' she nodded to him.  
'Luke and I will be coming on the mission to Ord Mantell with you and Chewie' she explained, and Luke nodded in confirmation when Han looked at him.  
'Ah- great' he smiled, genuinely at her and she beamed at him, 'we leave in four days, it's not too warm there- but not as cold as this damn ice cube' he rolled his eyes, and huffed on his way- 'I've got to check in with the General- go get some sleep Anna, you look tired' he ordered her, like a true big brother, before walking off in the direction they had come.  
'He's right- I am tired' she yawned in spite of herself, 'and hungry' she mumbled  
'Well how about if we pick up some food from the canteen, and then we can go meditate?'  
'Like a take away?' she grinned, and he blinked.  
'Yeah I guess so' he chuckled at her.  
'Alright then' she agreed, and they trudged along in the direction of food.

*BREAK*

'Well my room is bigger than yours' she reasoned with him, he nodded in agreement  
'Alright- we may as well go to your room then' he said, making sure he had all of the food he was carrying securely in his arms, she grinned- they both had armfuls of food in heatproof containers ready to eat. They walked out of the canteen and down the icy corridors- it was pretty late, which meant there weren't many people around, so they managed to get back to her room without bumping into anyone. She swiped her card into the lock next to the door and it slid open, they both went inside and laid the food out on a low coffee table that was in the far corner which had a couple of lounge seats and a sofa surrounding it. The floor had thick rugs on top of the boarded floor which had underfloor heating, she sat down on the floor after pulling cushions off the sofa and the blanket off her bed. She patted the cushion next to her and he sat down closely to her- she leaned some of her weight on him and he wrapped one of his arms around her waist as they both leaned forward and uncovered some of the food.

'This is surprisingly good' Anna grinned between mouthfuls, and he smiled at her.  
'That's because you haven't eaten solid food in a month' he commented with a look at her.  
'Oh yeah' she laughed, remembering, she shifted so that she was facing him.  
'I was worried about you, you know' he looked down, embarrassed, 'I wish I'd have been there- I-' he stopped, not meeting her gaze out of what she thought was guilt. She got up onto her knees and moved over to him, she hugged him tightly.  
'Luke- you couldn't have done anything- I'm okay' he pulled away from her and frowned, she knelt in front of him.  
'You weren't okay' he said softly.  
'I think it might have looked worse than it was' she trailed off, but he wasn't convinced, he gave her a serious look and she shook her head, 'fine- Luke I'm sorry- I promise I'll be careful in the future'  
'Well good' he smiled at her, pulling her into an embrace her head close to his shoulder and he kissed her hair. She pulled away from him to continue to eat, the stew was nice and warm- helping her insides warm up from the cold base, but she was full quickly- her stomach not used to eating solid foods for so long. She pulled the blanket around herself and started to begin meditating whilst Luke finished eating, her head was clearing after only few minutes. She felt a wave of calm over her, along with the shining presence of Luke right in front of her, after a while she felt him join her in meditation, he brushed his consciousness against her- soothing her even more.

They sat there for over twenty minutes, before Anna opened her eyes to look at him- he still had his eyes closed. He sat there with a long-sleeved blue top on, light trousers and boots, his hair was slightly ruffled and his face was just perfect as always.  
'It's rude to stare you know' he whispered, a smile emerging on his lips, as he opened his brilliant blue eyes.  
'Oh shush' she dismissed his comment with an eye roll and she jumped on him, forcing him to fall backwards with a laugh. She found his lips with hers, his hands were on her waist, and they kissed deeply, and energetically. Rolling over, he pressed his weight on her a little, continuing the kiss until they became breathless. They broke apart, and smiled at each other, Luke's hands were still on her waist, sending tingles up and down her sides, and her heart fluttered when she looked into his eyes. _Aww dammit Sikes was right_ , she thought with a huff.  
She pulled the blanket up on them and moved herself into his shoulder, her head laid just below his collarbone, and she could feel herself drifting off to sleep. Moving her head up to smile at him, he looked down to her and smiled back, leaning down he planted a small sweet kiss onto her lips and before long she was fast asleep.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading- see you soon :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hellooo to everyone! Thank you for the follows/favourites and reviews (randomreader212, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967 and guests!)**

 **I would like to say I'm really sorry! It got pointed out to me in a review that I need to break up my paragraphs- they seemed alright when I upload them on the computer, but I checked for when its actually on the site, and you're right it is really difficult to read when it's such a big chunk, sorry!**

 **Also in another review it said that I should use speech marks; " " but personally I use quotation marks ''. I'm from the UK and I read online that in the US a lot of people use speech marks, where as in the UK people prefer to use quotation marks. I'm sorry if this is annoying or anything- its just my preferred style of writing (I've been taught it ever since I was in school!)**

 **Anyhoo, thank you for your feedback- I hope everyone enjoys the chapter- please let me know in the reviews!**

* * *

Anna woke up in her bed, she flicked the light on and blinked, rubbing her eyes she looked around the room, everything was pretty much back to the way it normally was, and Luke was nowhere in sight. She pulled the covers off herself and sat up, she caught sight of herself in the mirror- her hair was all over the place, and her jumpsuit was all twisted, she sighed and got up. Stumbling over to the bathroom, she pulled off her clothes and stepped into the shower, the warm water washing away the aches in her muscles. Once she'd finished washing- she stepped out of the shower, drying herself with a towel she wrapped it around herself and started drying her hair. She usually wouldn't bother, but it was so cold on base- leaving it wet might freeze the ends of her hair. Once finished she dressed in her usual tight trousers, vest and long jumper, before putting on her boots, gabbing her thick coat and heading outside.

She head down to the main hangar- she knew that was where the Falcon was and hopefully Chewbacca and Han. She was right in her assumptions, they were working on the ship- something they always seemed to be doing.

'Hey guys' she greeted them- Han looked up from welding something on the wing, 'what's up with it now? She grinned and Han rolled her eyes.

'Just some touch-ups' he admitted, climbing down to her, she helped him, he looked her over, 'how are you feeling?'

'Not bad thanks- well rested' she stretched and smiled.

'You sure? I saw Luke leave your room pretty late last night' he commented with a mischievous look on his face, and he nudged her shoulder- she rolled her eyes.

'We were just meditating and I was tired and fell asleep' she said, calmly, but he didn't buy it.

'Come on Anna- I've seen the way you look at each other' he smiled to her, genuinely and rolled her eyes, 'and I've got to go on a mission with you two'

'Han, seriously there's nothing going on' she protested, folding her arms across her chest.

'I can tell when you're lying Anna- I've known you a very long time' he grinned at her and then went on board, she followed him.

'How's the hyperdrive?' she asked him, leaning on the side control panel, he started fiddling with it.

'Not too bad' he replied, 'it can trip on and off'

'Have you tried to fix the oscillator?' she queried with a frown.

'Yeah- of course' he said, she looked at him with a grin.

'I'll get on it now' she picked up some of his tools and headed off to the other access panel across the other side of the ship.

*BREAK*

'Alright- I seem to have fixed the problem' she popped up out of the pit where she had fixed the oscillator, and he looked at her.

'Nice face' he grinned, 'thanks A' he held out his hand to pull her out.

'What's up with my face?' she grumbled.

'Nothing- oh, nothing' he had that mischievous look on his face again and she frowned, but shrugged and tapped Chewie on the shoulder.

'You okay buddy?' she asked him, the Wookie groaned and nodded, 'yeah I know- he's such a pain' she raised her eyebrows at Han and laughed.

'What are you up to for the rest of the day then?' he asked her, leaning on the wall.

'I'll probably go and do some training- I still feel a bit weak after, well you know-' she looked at him.

'Fair enough' He sighed, 'I suppose you better train up for this mission- just in case we run into any trouble' he reasoned, and she nodded.

'Yeah I guess so' then she grinned, 'I can still kick your butt though' she playfully punched his arm lightly, and then turned to leave, 'I'll see you later- bye Chewie' she grinned at the Wookie and left

She made her way to the training room, it was smaller than the one they had on the ship- but it worked pretty much the same, with more weights and bars for pull ups. When she got there she went to her locker, which had her gym kit in, and changed quickly before going out and getting on a treadmill. She ran for about half an hour, before getting extremely exhausted, before moving onto the pull ups and then the weights.

'Hey Anna' Luke sat down next to her whilst she was using the small dumbbells.

'Hey you' she grunted as she lifted them, 'did you put me into bed last night?' she asked, confused.

'Aha- yeah I did' he smiled to her, 'you were really tired'

'I guess so' she smiled 'thanks'

'Those are a bit light aren't they?' he grinned, cheekily.

'Oh shut up you' she shoved his arm away, noticing that he was wearing a vest that showed off his impeccable muscles, 'ugh you are strong' she rolled her eyes, 'but I could still beat you up'

'Oh really?' he got up, with a grin on his face, his arms outstretched.

'Hell yeah' she got up, and used the Force to levitate the weight back onto their wrack, he watched with wide-eyes.

'I think you've been holding out on me' he said slowly, looking her in the eye, she shrugged with a grin.

'You were away for two months' she raised an eyebrow, 'I was able to practice'

'I'm scared' he joked, but she stayed deadly serious.

'You should be' he looked at her, waiting for her to laugh, but she managed to keep her face straight.

*BREAK*

'I told you I'd beat you!' she laughed as she slapped him on the stomach lightly- he was on his back after she had managed to wrestle him to the ground. Anna hopped up from practically on top of him, holding out her hand and helping him up, he was out of breath, he looked at her gratefully.

'Okay- well that's just because I haven't trained in a while' he stammered, trying to find an excuse, but she laughed, putting her hands on her hips and taking deep breaths to try and regulate her breathing.

'Yeah- oh I'm sure' she nodded with a bemused expression on her face, she rubbed her bare stomach- her muscles were aching from the work out.

'It's true!' he protested with a grin.

'Yeah, yeah- I totally believe you Skywalker'

'If that was with a lightsaber I'd totally win' she rolled her eyes at his reasoning.

'That's because I don't have one- I'm not a Jedi' he looked at her.

'Me neither Anna' he moved towards her, 'and you could train to be one you know'

'Nahh- you have to be good to be a Jedi, and I'm just not' she shrugged looking at him, who was now standing close- leaning down to look at her.

'I don't believe that' he said softly.

'Well in case you didn't notice- I'm a wanted criminal' she laughed nervously.

'Anna, you're wanted by another criminal- it doesn't count' he grinned at her, rubbing his hands soothingly up her arms.

'Ha- yeah, I don't think so' she rolled her eyes and moved away from him, 'you hungry?'

'Sure' he nodded and followed her out to the changing area.

Once they were both changed back into their thick protective clothing, they headed to the canteen, Anna was wondering what it would be like to be a Jedi, like her father before her. She wished that she could believe that she could be a Jedi, but Luke had been very clear on the fact that Jedi's were good, that they never embraced the dark side- and she knew that at some point in her life she had used the dark side- she knew it and she was afraid of it. There was no doubt that the Force ran through her, it was a lot stronger than she let on- there were far more to her abilities than Luke knew, but she was afraid that he would make her train to become a Jedi- something that she just couldn't bring herself to start.

'Anna?' she heard Luke ask, pulling her out of her daydream.

'Mmm?' she turned and smiled to him.

'I asked if you were ready for the mission?' he asked her.

'Oh sorry' she laughed, 'I think so- it shouldn't be too hard- I mean I have had worse' she grinned but he looked seriously at her.

'What were you even thinking about?' he asked her with a frown.

'Oh nothing- just nothing' she said quickly, brushing it off.

'Hmm' he looked at her with a sly grin, 'you know I can tell when you're lying right?' and she laughed.

'Oh look its Leia!' she exclaimed, running off towards her Princess friend, hearing him chuckled behind her.

*BREAK*

'Ord Mantell has the best scavenging markets- that's why Susie' Han groaned at her, she kicked him for using the name she despised, he was annoyed for her constant questioning.

'Sorry for asking' she got up with a grin, stumbling out of the cockpit and out into the seating area, she patted Artoo, before sitting on the couch seat by the small table, Chewbacca often played games on. They were only about an hour into a sixteen-hour trip, so to be bored already was not good. It wasn't before long until Luke joined her from the cockpit, sitting next to her on the sofa seat, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close.

'You alright?' he asked her with a kiss to the forehead.

'Mmmhmm' she rested her head on his shoulder, 'Just a bit bored I guess' she laughed a little, and he wrapped his arm tighter.

'Really?' he raised an eyebrow, before he used his free hand to tilt her face towards him, leaning in his lips met hers in a way that made her melt inside, he kissed her softly but it had an edge to it- something more urgent in his kiss and the way he pulled her ever so closer. They broke apart, somewhat breathless, and bashful at their exchange, now it was her turn to raise an eyebrow.

'Okay- I'm not bored anymore' she grinned, and he kissed her nose.

'Good' he kept his arm around her and smiled himself, 'have you ever been here before?' he asked presumably about Ord Mantell. She swung her legs over one of his and leaned on the side of the sofa back so that she was facing him, she scratched her brow, thinking.

'Erm' she paused, 'yeah I have- we chased up a bounty hunter here while back- he was following a bounty that had been cancelled' she chuckled lightly.

'You've seen so much, and I-' he stopped.

'You blew up the death star' she finished with a grin, he let out an embarrassed laugh.

'Well yeah-' he stopped, sighing.

'I've not seen places I'd want to go' she laughed, 'not really- there are so many systems I've heard about' she smiled, her eyes bright at the thought of adventure.

'Where would you like to go?' he asked her, resting his hands on her knees.

'I've always wanted to go to Naboo' she smiled, 'my mother used to talk about it often, and I've always wanted to go to Mon Cala' she eyes gleamed even brighter.

'Mon Cala? He asked, puzzled, she nodded with a smile.

'It's a planet in the outer rim, in the Calamari Sector' she explained, 'it actually provides ships to the alliance sometimes' he raised his eyebrows.

'I don't I've ever heard of it' he admitted with a small smile.

'It's mainly made of oceans- there's not much land, but where there is they have amazing palaces, some are abandoned' she laughed slightly, 'Han always promised to take me there'

'Well' he sighed, pulling her close to him, 'when this is all over- we'll go' he whispered, kissing her temple and resting his head on her shoulder.

*BREAK*

'Anna we're starting the landing cycle' Han's voice came over the communicator, she clicked it off and her and Luke made their way into the cockpit, strapping themselves down into the seats behind Han and Chewie.

'What's the plan when we get there?' Luke asked Han.

'Well the market won't be up and running until morning- so I think we should stay on board tonight' he said, whilst he landed the Falcon in one of the docking bays of the Ord Mantell city centre and powered down the thrusters. Once the ship's main engines were off, he turned round to look at Anna, and sighed, 'Its one-am local time, we should get some rest, the market starts at six'.

'Yes Captain' Anna replied, as if he were a drill sergeant, mockingly.

'Oh shut your mouth' he rolled his eyes at her as she pulled a blanket from the shelf behind her head, he looked at her and frowned.

'Anna what are you doing?' he asked.

'There are only three bunks- I'll sleep in here' she smiled with a shrug.

'Nope' he said.

'Anna- you take a bunk, I can sleep in here' Luke offered, and she shook her head.

'Nope' she refused, 'as the highest ranking officer here, that's an order' she grinned at them both, and Han sighed, getting up from the seat.

'Come on kid- there's no use arguing with her, she's so stubborn' he left the cockpit, tapping him on the shoulder, Chewbacca followed.

'He's right- I am stubborn' she grinned at Luke, whilst pulling off her boots, he rolled his eyes and sighed.

'You're just as frustrating as Han' he laughed, getting up himself and before he left- he planted a light kiss on her forehead, 'Night Anna'

'Goodnight Luke' she smiled up at him, before snuggling down in her blanket and trying to get to sleep.

She didn't.

Anna was restless for a good few hours before she decided to get up. She stretched her aching muscles and looked at the clock on the dash- it was half four and none of the guys had even stirred yet, she rolled her eyes and pulled on her boots- knowing that the proper drinkers would still be out. She put her blaster in its thigh holster and clipped her communicator onto her belt, hoping her hair wasn't too messy- but then realised that anyone that would be out probably wouldn't give a damn.

She lowered the ramp of the ship, and tiptoed past a sleeping Chewie and out of the ship into the docking bay. She looked around; the hangar was empty and it had a large bay door on the far left side, and a small entrance next to it- she headed for that one.

Once outside, she looked around the large valley the city was built in. The snowy peaks of the mountains glistened in the light of the two rising suns, and the early morning frost crunched under foot- Anna wrapped her long jacket around herself and pulled the collar up. She looked over to a building that was emitting laughter, music and conversation- that seemed like the right place to be, she walked in that direction.

She descended the few steps and reached for the door- it slid open and she was met with a relatively full bar, with mostly humans. Anna recognised a few of them, they were gangsters for the Black Sun gang and she just hoped that they wouldn't recognise her. She kept her head down, yet tried to look inconspicuous whilst walking to the bar- she caught the eye of the bartender and he sauntered on over to her.  
'What can I get you, Miss?' he smiled charmingly at her, she leaned on the bar to have a look at the optics behind him.

'Errm a Correllian brandy please' she returned the smile and waited patiently for her drink.

Once she received her drink and she'd paid for it, Anna made her way over to a two person table that had three chairs round it. It was in an ideal spot- nobody was behind her, she was against the back wall, she had perfect view of the entrance and she was higher up than half of the bar- meaning that she could see everyone that might pose a threat.  
She sat there for over an hour- sipping at her long drink, she enjoyed people watching and analysing them through the Force was good practice for her. Suddenly she felt a familiar, yet prickly presence in her sub consciousness- the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she saw a familiar figure slowly walking towards her, frowning and peering at her face.

'Susanna?' he asked, his voice confirmed that it was Eiko Serth, 'little Susie Carter?' she rolled her eyes.

'Yeah?' she plastered a smile on her face, _well crap,_ 'Eiko?'

'Well you've grown up' his eyes brightened and he walked more confidently towards her and sat down at her table in the chair on the left of her.

'It has been six years' she remarked, moving her hand down to her thigh to ensure she had a secure grip on her blaster-thankfully he couldn't see it as he was facing her other leg.

'Has it really been that long?' he raised an eyebrow at her, and placed his drink down onto the table.

'It has indeed' she took a sip from her whiskey, still keeping her other hand on her blaster, and watching him intently.

'You look even more beautiful than when I last saw you' he cringingly added, she raised her eyebrow.

'Well' she said, not moving her expression, and then internally screamed when he started running his fingers up and down the outside of her thigh. 'Are you still body guarding for the Black Sun?' she asked him slowly- resisting the urge to shoot his face off.

'I'm now head of security' he boasted- still touching her, now she raised both eyebrows.

'Impressive' she commented.

'What are you doing now? Still smuggling?' he asked, 'I hear there's a bounty out on you' he looked at her, and she sighed.

'Is that why you're here? To collect a bounty?' her expression was steady.

'Not at all' he smiled to her, his brown eyes shining.

'Then why are you here?' she asked, still steady.

'You know why' he exaggerating his hand movements along her thigh, she gripped her blaster holster tighter, cocking the weapon.

'Hmm' she kept her eyes on him, and pulled a wave of calming Force over herself- she really needed to stay calm.

'You never answered my question- what do you do now?' he asked her, in a heavily flirtatious tone.

'I'm an assassin' she lied, calmly, steadily but threateningly, he raised his eyebrows- surprised.

'Really?' his hand had stopped, but he began again, 'are you here for a hit?' he asked, showing his slight panic.

'No' she replied coolly.

'Then why are you here?' he was relieved.

'You know why I'm here' she said, her eyes looking darkly, in a way that made him not realise she was mocking him.

'And why is that?' he smiled at her reply, and she raised her eyebrow.

'For a drink' she said bluntly, taking a swig of her drink- his smile faltered, his eyes turning mean, he grabbed her wrist and squeezed hard.

'You listen here Anna' he whispered menacingly, 'you're coming with me- you know what I want-'

'Is there a problem here?' she heard Han question, she turned her head towards him with a small smile- Eiko let go of her wrist and took his hand off her thigh, Chewbacca growled.

'Not at all Han old buddy, it's good to see you' he said innocently, before getting up from the table and holding his hands up as he walked away. Han looked angry, so did Chewie and Luke had a very dark look on his face, she breathed out a sigh of relief.

'Anna- what the hell were you doing?' Han sat down where Eiko had been sat, whilst Luke and Chewie stood around them both.

'Han- I had it under control' she pulled her blaster out and rested her hand on the table- showing him that the weapon was cocked, 'If he hadn't have let go- I would have blown his tiny brains out'

'It didn't look like it' Han grumbled at her, and she rolled her eyes.

'I couldn't sleep for hours- I needed to get out of the ship' she explained, downing the last of her drink and getting up, 'breakfast?' she smiled at them both.

'Sure' Han sighed, before getting up himself and the four of them traipsed out of the bar.

'Anna' Luke said to her, in a relatively even voice- but she could sense the waves of anger flowing off him.

'Luke- I had it covered,' she sighed, and looked at him as they were walking through the town that was starting to open up for the day, 'I had a loaded blaster and a knife- if he made any more moves he would have been dead' she said in a low voice.

'But-' he protested.

'And that is why I can never be a Jedi- too much dark in me' she breathed, walking off ahead of him before he could make her feel guilty.

'Han-do you know what we're looking for?' she asked him, as Luke caught her up.

'Yeah- I've got the list here' he showed it to her and she nodded.

'Okay- well the market is starting now- but I guess not everyone will be out yet- so food okay?' she grinned, and he looked at her with an exasperated expression.

'Yes- food' he laughed at her gleeful face.

They stumbled on a small diner that was advertising breakfast in the window, Han steered them all inside and they grabbed a booth at the back. Luke sat next to Anna, and she could sense he wasn't happy, so she was nervous when Chewie and Han got up to order.

'Anna- what was that about?' he frowned to her.

'Luke- I'm just not good enough to be a Jedi, okay?' she grumbled.

'Where is this coming from?' he asked.

'I don't know-' she sighed.

'You could though' he breathed, 'If you tried- I mean, I think that you're far more powerful than you admit- I can feel it in you Anna'

'No Luke' she whispered softly, looking him in the eyes, 'I'm just a criminal' his eyes softened and he took a breath in to reply, but before he could say anything Han and Chewie were back.

*BREAK*

'So have we got everything we need?' Luke huffed at Han, he looked over his shoulder at him.

'Yeah kid' he confirmed- we'll go and put it back on board, then I just need to pay the docking bay manager' he explained and Luke nodded. They lugged their parts back to the ship- loading them on board took a while- even with Chewie's strength and Han's organisational abilities, but in the end they managed it.

Once they finished, Chewie stayed with the ship- whilst the rest of them walked back through town to try and find the manager, Anna looked around and saw several men dressed in black suits- just like the one that Eiko had been wearing. They were watching them very carefully, and Anna put a hand on her blaster, Han mirroring her actions, but nothing came from it.

They found the manager relatively quickly and whilst Han was paying him, Anna and Luke looked around. There were some quirky stalls in the market- selling all kinds of junk, but the main stands that were bringing in the most money were gem stalls- there were all kinds, blue and purple were the most commonplace- but the green ones were far more beautiful. They were enchanted by them for moments, before Han came up behind them and laughed.

'You looking at the pretty gems kid?' he laughed, 'for your charm bracelet?' he grinned, Luke rolled his eyes.

'Come on lets go' Anna suggested, and they walked off back towards the docking bay.

As they rounded a street into a smaller side street- they stopped at the sight of a black-coated figure, with a large blaster, pointed directly at them.

'Captain Solo, Susanna Carter- I've been waiting for you' he said ominously, Anna rolled her eyes.

'Jeez- you're a bit melodramatic aren't you?' she commented, trying to pull her blaster.

'They'll be none of that Carter- Jabba wants you' he quipped back- pointing his blaster straight onto her.

'Well you're not taking us' Han said confidently.

'I'll just have to kill you then!' the bounty hunter replied, cocking the weapon. Anna stepped between Han and this creepy bounty hunter.

'Woah- you must know Jabba' she started, stepping ever-so closer to him, 'he wouldn't want to be deprived of the satisfaction of killing us traitors, now would he?' she questioned, and the bounty hunter lowered his weapon slightly, 'you'll have to take us alive if you want your full payment' she reasoned.

He was distracted for just one moment whilst he considered what she was saying. Anna pulled her arm back quickly, snapping it forward- punching the guy straight on the nose, she heard a crack as he fell to the floor.

'Yeah that's what I thought!' she boasted as the three of them started to walk back to the ship. Heavy rain started to fall and Han was storming off ahead, she tried to run a little to catch up with him.

'Han!' she shouted, but he carried on, 'Han!' she shouted again, this time grabbing at his arm which stopped him and allowed Luke to catch up. She faced Han, breathing hard, the ran pouring down on top of them- he hair was dripping wet, the water running down her face- she blinked the water out of her eyes.

'I have to leave Anna' he stated.

'We all do- back to the rebellion' she smiled, hopefully at him.

'No- I have to leave the rebellion' he shouted over the noise of the rain, Luke could only witness their exchange, 'I have to pay of Jabba- I can't live like this!'

'Han please stay- don't leave me again!' she shouted back, still blinking.

'Anna I can't- you know that'

'Well then I'm coming too' she replied, grabbing at his arms and holding his wrists, 'I have to pay off Jabba and if you think I'm sending you in there alone you've got another thing coming' she grinned.

'But Anna- you're important, they need you' he tried to reason with her.

'I need to get this death mark off me first' she put her hands on her hips and gave him a stern look, he sighed and nodded.

*BREAK*

Once they were in hyperspace Han put it on the autopilot before they filed out into the seating area. Anna was shivering, her clothes damp from the rain- Han laid a blanket around her and she looked up to thank him.

'I'll tell Rieekan when we get back' he said to her and Anna nodded.

'Yeah- I'll need to talk to him too' she smiled.

Luke looked at her- she felt a flash of anger, before he put his guard up- her eyes flickered to him, his eyes were fierce and for a moment he looked at her intently before looking away, she ripped her eyes from his face and got up.

'I'm going to get out of these wet clothes' she laid the blanket down back onto her seat and walked off.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **p.s The next chapter will be the start of ESB! :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Helloooo to you all! Thank you for the favourites and follows! Thank you for the reviews from; Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, margaery (Guest),** **Guests and randomreader212**

 **Thank you for all sticking with me- sorry its taken so long! Here's a long one for you**

 **Please let me know what you think!**

* * *

The rest of the journey was quite quiet after Anna and Han had decided to leave to pay off Jabba, she had changed into a snow suit she had left on board and had roughly dried her hair so that it was now forming loose ringlets. She sat on the sofa seat by the table in the corner in the centre of the ship alone. Luke came sulking in after about an hour, she smiled to him and he replied with a weak one.  
'Hey you' she looked up at him, and patted the seat next to hers, but he ignored her and sat across the ship from her, 'oh- okay' she got up and sat in the cockpit- not wanting to be around Luke if he was just going to be passive aggressive.

*BREAK*

Once they landed Anna took the collection of parts for the X-wings over to the grounded ships- they were only slight adjustments that needed to be fitted so she would start on them right away. She went over to a ship, and pulled out her tools from her belt and started to fit the adaptions to the ships.

After a few hours a communication came through from Leia.  
'Anna?' she called.

'Yep' Anna replied, pressing the button on the communicator.

'Have you seen Luke?' Leia's voice was quite shaky, sounding worried- Anna's stomach knotted out of fear.

'No- why?' she said hastily, 'what's wrong?'

'He hasn't reported back yet, he went out on a patrol' Anna's fear started to flare- she had a very bad feeling.

'Has anything been done to find him?' she asked frantically, 'it's getting dark!'

'I've just heard from Threepio that Han has gone out on a Tauntaun' Leia's voice sounded as worried as Anna felt.

'But it'll freeze!' she looked around, 'I'm taking a patrol to look for them'

'No- Anna, we can't lose more people in this weather' Leia's efforts were half-hearted and Anna could feel it.

'Leia-'Anna sighed, and heard a mirroring sound the other end of the line.

'Alright- take a few guys out on a patrol- but don't stray too far out of the markers' Leia warned her, Anna clicked off the communication and strode towards some of the techies near the Tauntaun stalls.

'Commander Carter' the deck officer greeted her.

'Commander Skywalker and Captain Solo have gone missing out in the snow- the weather's coming in fast and its getting dark- we need to organise some patrols to find them' she gave the order and he nodded- she remembered his name was Mulran, he turned around and started barking orders at the rest of them, organising the teams for the patrols. Anna knew that their Tauntaun's wouldn't make it far in the cold- but they could at least try, and due to the blizzard any ships that could fly- wouldn't be able to see a thing.

She clambered up onto one with the help of Mulran, she pulled herself straight and they all head out in their pairs into the blizzard. Anna pulled her scarf around her face even tighter, and thanking the goggles that her eyeballs wouldn't freeze in her face. She could barely see anything three feet away from her, let alone see if Han or Luke were out there, the snow was coming down thickly, falling onto her communicator watch- she looked over to make sure Mulran was still there- thankfully he was.

They followed their course around the south markers, but they couldn't see anything- her wrist buzzed, and she brushed off the snow and pulled her goggles and scarf down.

'Yeah?' she shouted over the snow storm, blinking the snow from her eyes.

'Anna we have to go- the Tauntaun's are failing, we're not going to find them in this weather' He insisted, she felt her Tauntaun.

'One more circle?' she pleaded.

'We've been at this for an hour!' he protested, but sighed, 'just one circle more' he gave in.

'Thank you' she pulled her goggles on and wrapped her scarf around her face again.

They started their circle again, about three quarters of the way through she saw Mulran's Tauntaun fall into the snow, she pulled hers to a stop before she climbed down from it and trudged over to him. The snow was thick, coming up to her knees, she managed to get over to him shaking him she asked if he was alright.

'Yeah- although my leg is stuck' she looked over to it and pushed, he groaned out of the pain and she pushed harder freeing his trapped limb. She pulled him to his feet, and from his moan of pain she could only assume that something was broken, she looked over to her Tauntaun, thanking the stars that it was still alive. They made their way through the thick snow, his body weight, slowing her down- along with the snow, but eventually they made it. She helped him onto the animal, her hands under his shoulders, pushing him up she groaned with his weight, _dammit he's muscly!_

Once atop the Tauntaun they continued on their way back to the echo base and reported back, before taking him to the medical bay. He went off on one of the speeder cars that transported people across base, with a few of the other members of the team and she ran to find Leia.

Anna found her by the Falcon with Chewbacca and the two droids- they were just closing the shield doors for the night. As the large metal doors clunked closed, Chewie let out a howl and Anna felt a distinct feeling of terror settling deep in her stomach.

'Leia- I'm sorry, we did everything we could' she brushed her hand on the arm of the princess, Leia pulled her into a tight embrace.

'It's alright' she mumbled, 'I know you did- I just hope Han found Luke in time- I hope he has his shelter with him'

'I think one of the techies said he did- don't worry Leia I'm sure they'll be alright' Anna breathed,

'come on- let's get some coffee- it's going to be a long night' she steered Leia towards the control room, knowing they can keep tabs on the activity outside and there being coffee there.

*BREAK*

Anna had been right- it was a long night. As soon a dawn broke and the storm had subsided patrol ships had been sent out to find Han and Luke. Anna sat in one of the chairs by the command centre panel and Leia was sat across from her.

'Listen Leia- I have to go away with Han for a while' she said slowly- knowing the Princess could be quite temperamental.

'What?' she exclaimed, coming out of her daydreams, 'you're going too?'

'Wait-' Anna raised her arms in defence, 'I'm coming back!' she laughed nervously.

'Oh really?' Leia got up and gave her a stern expression.

'Yeah- Leia, I belong here- this is just something I have to do-' her eyes pleaded with Leia, and Leia's softened.

'Try to bring Han back' she rolled her eyes.

'I will' Anna promised, before settling back down into her seat and waiting for news.

'Echo Base this is Rouge two- I've found them' came the call through on the radio, 'repeat I've found them' Anna and Leia jumped to their feet along with the rest of the communications staff.

'Received Two- this is echo base' one of the staff replied, 'medical team will be waiting when you touch down'

Anna's palms were sweaty from nerves and excitement which was odd because Leia had managed to drag her all the way to the medical centre- they hadn't managed to get to the ship before Luke was taken away, Han was stood outside when they got there.

'Han!' Leia was surprised, pulling him into a tight hug, before remembering herself and releasing him immediately.

'Is Luke alright?' Anna blurted, 'Are you alright?' her voice was shaky, Han scratched his head and looked at her.

'Yeah I'm fine A- Luke took a big hit from something, he might have hypothermia, but they're putting him in a bacta tank right now' He reeled off the information that the medical droids had told him, she hugged him quickly before they all went inside.

Anna gasped when she saw Luke- he was suspended in the tank with a breathing respirator on, he had lacerations to his face that looked quite deep but otherwise he looked reasonably alright. They all stood inside the medical bay room in silence, Han leant on the wall- Leia stood beside him, and Anna stood further back from the tank next to Chewie. They watched the droids inject things into the chamber- Luke's head lolloping from side to side in the water, Anna leaned back on Chewie who embraced her warmly, realising that she was probably feeling very anxious.

Han started pacing the room after about forty minutes, and Anna was playing with her hands nervously, before the droids pressed a laser against the side of the tank. It pulled Luke out of unconsciousness, his eyes opened and he looked around confused, before he floated his way back up to the top. The droids ushered them out into a waiting area and said that Luke would be in room five-B when he was dried and fully treated. Anna and Han sat with Chewie in the far corner of the waiting room, and Leia said she was going for a walk.

After about twenty minutes a droid came out of the door, they all looked up expectantly.  
'Commander Skywalker is awake and can receive visitors' the droid informed them, and they all got up and Anna followed Chewie and Han inside.

'How'ya feeling Kid' Han said as the door slid open, 'you don't look so bad to me, you look strong enough to pull ears of a Gundark' Luke gave a small laugh, and Anna looked around to see Leia and the two droids already inside.

'Thanks to you' Luke smiled to Han, who was leaning towards him on the bed.

'That's two-' Han raised his fingers up at Luke, 'you owe me junior' Luke let a small laugh out again, and Anna tried to catch his eye before Han spoke again, but he wouldn't look at her, she felt hurt.  
Han turned around to face the princess.

'Well your worship' he folded his arms across his chest, 'looks like you managed to keep me around for a little longer' Leia had aa angry look on her face.

'I had nothing to do with it' she protested, 'General Rieekan thinks it's too dangerous for ships to leave the system until we've activated the energy field' Anna went and stood by Chewie.

'That's a good story' Han started 'I think you just can't stand to let a gorgeous guy like me out of your sight' Anna saw Luke roll his eyes after she had done the same.

'I don't know where you get your delusions from- laser brain' Leia insulted, Anna stifled a laugh, where Chewbacca full on went for it. Han turned to Chewie a shocked expression on his face.

'Laugh it up fuzzball' he retorted, 'but you didn't see us alone in the south passage-'

'Han' Anna warned, Han placed his hand around the princess' shoulders and Leia was wearing an irritated expression.

'She expressed her true feelings for me' he beamed brightly and she was taken aback.

'My true fe-' she scoffed, 'why you stuck up, half-witted, scruffy looking, nerf herder' Leia shouted, Han walked away from Leia, his back to her, and back over to Luke. Han looked back- offended.

'Who's scruffy looking?' Artoo beeped in the tense silence, and Anna stood closer to Chewie- not really wanting to be in the way of this domestic, Han turned to lean back on Luke's bedside, 'You must of hit it pretty close to the mark to get her all riled up like that, huh kid?' he grumbled, Luke not meeting his gaze. Anna and Chewie looked at Leia, who was walking towards them nodding, she looked right up at Han.

'Well I guess you don't know everything about women yet' she grabbed Luke's face and kissed him, his arm making its way to her back. Anna, Chewie and Han stood there, mouths agape, and Anna felt slight anger bubbling inside her slightly. She saw Threepio come up behind them and star also, Han recovered his expression quickly enough for Leia to see he was 'unfazed' by her kiss, Leia looked at him with a grin and then left. Luke put his hands behind his head, and had a cocky expression on his face, Anna was barely aware of the intercom, but Han had heard it, he slapped her hip and turned to leave.

'Take it easy' he left with Chewie and Anna stood there glaring at Luke.

'Well you look pretty pleased with yourself' she continued to glare at him, he just exhaled.

'Why do you care?' he asked, 'you're leaving anyway' she sighed, angrily and rolled her eyes.

'Wow Luke, that's mature' she threw her arms in the air, 'you have no idea what Jabba is like! I have a death mark on me- I have to pay it off'

'Jeeze Anna you sound just like Han- coming up with excuses' he argued back, 'you have just seen Han as a ticket out of here so that the both of you can go and just get more money!' he accused her, and she flinched at his vicious words.

'Oh that's nice Luke- really' she spluttered, unable to get the words out correctly, 'you know- I was coming back, but now I know how you truly feel about me then I just won't okay!' she yelled the last part, his eyes went wide- probably shocked from her flare in temper.

'Bye Luke- try to stay out of trouble okay, I wouldn't want you to get hurt or anything' her eyes filled up and she left in a huff, without allowing him a word in.

She stormed off to the communications centre, where Leia and Han were discussing things with Rieekan, she walked over to them.

'What's up?' she asked, as concern was written all over their faces, they looked up at her, and Rieekan explained.

'Something's out there- the scanners have picked up something' He said to her.

'Wait- something weak is coming through' the communications officer said, they all went silent and listened to the strange droid sounding code coming through on the receiver, they all tried to figure out what it was, when Threepio came up behind them.

'Sir, I am fluent in six million forms of communication,' he started, 'this signal is not used by the alliance, it could be an imperial code' they all turned to look back at the source of the strange signal, standing there for a few moments, before Han exhaled.

'It isn't friendly whatever it is' He huffed, 'come on Chewie let's check it out' He and the Wookie left the control room, leaving Anna and Leia to stand there with a concerned looking Rieekan.

Anna sighed, and strolled over to where some of the staff were scanning other sectors of the ice planet's surface, she leaned on the back of her friend Azah's chair. She leaned back to look at her, as Anna stared intently at the screen.

'Anything unusual?' she asked her friend.

'Not outside of the droid we already found' she said, clicking the controls to see what else was out there.

'I have a feeling we're going to be evacuating' Anna said solemnly, Azah looked up at her and smiled grimly.

'Me too' she whispered, when the communicator buzzed, and Han's voice came over the communicator, Rieekan and Leia rushed over to them.

'Well there's not much left of it,' he grunted, Leia put a headset on and replied swiftly.

'What was it?' she asked, Anna leaned on the back of her chair next to Rieekan.

'A droid of some kind' he sighed, 'I didn't hit it that hard, it must have had a self-destruct'  
Leia pushed the buttons next to the screen to bring up an image of it, and Sikes (who had now entered the control room) leaned on the other side of the chair, Anna looked, not really knowing how the three of them could actually fit on the back of the chair.

'Imperial probe droid' Leia confirmed with a grim expression.

'Yep- there's a good bet that the empire knows we're here' Han said down the line, Anna stood up, so did Sikes and they exchanged concerned glances with each other.

'We better start the evacuation' Rieekan instructed Sikes and Anna who nodded at them, 'give out the signal' he instructed Leia, who pressed the big red button, something that Anna had nearly pressed countless times by accident.

Anna left the room swiftly, to make sure that all the transports would be packed and ready to go. Chewie had already put most of her belongings onto the Falcon, so Anna stopped by the weapons department and got a large rifle blaster and slung it over her back, she had a feeling there would be a ground battle.

Sikes caught up to her quickly, out of breath he caught her arm and she turned around to face him.  
'You okay?' she asked, a frown on her face.

'Yeah- I'm heading up the ground force team' he explained to her, 'can I have you on the inside of the base running to make sure that everybody gets away in time?' he asked her, she smiled at him.

'Of course Jouren' then her heart sank slightly, 'what about you? Where's your transport?'

'Oh it's here- we'll just be the last ones to leave, well, us and the fighter pilots' he explained, but she couldn't deny the fear that had settled itself in the pit of her stomach.

'You're going to be on the front line' she looked around her eyes concerned for his safety.

'I'll be alright' he shrugged, and she rolled her eyes, pulling him into a tight hug- hoping that she would see her friend again, she planted a kiss on his cheek.

'Stay safe- alright' she pulled away and clapped him on the shoulder, he grinned at her.

'You too, trouble- see you at the rendezvous' and he walked away, Anna turned and caught sight of Luke across the hangar- he was in his full orange flight-suit and was holding his helmet. He took a step towards her but she just rolled her eyes and walked off- he thought she was being selfish and she hated that.

She stormed off to find the Falcon, she saw Han on top on the ship, and Chewie in the cockpit, he was welding parts onto an open panel of the wing.

'Hey that's it- try it!' Han called to Chewie, she watched him flick switches on in the cockpit and jumped when sparks started to fly around the ship, she saw Han jump backwards. 'Turn it off!' he shrieked, and Anna laughed, watching the smoke rise, almost engulfing her friend, and Chewbacca howling, irritated in his seat.

She clambered up on the ship with the help of Han, and grabbed his tools off him.  
'Here let me, you old fool' she grinned, and Han rolled his eyes, she crouched down, she had changed from her snow suit into her normal trousers, grey top and brown leather jacket- it was a lot more comfortable. She tinkered away for a while until she heard Luke from down below, Chewbacca obviously working on the underside of the ship to where she was, she looked up at Han and shook her head at him, he frowned but sighed and nodded.

'Chewie- take care of yourself, okay?' she heard Luke say, she laid perfectly flat and carried on with her tinkering.

'Hi Kid,' Han greeted him, 'there's got to be a reason for it- check it at the other end' he instructed the droid, that teetered along the side of the ship, 'wait a second' Han looked down at Luke, 'are you alright?' he asked him.

'Yeah' she heard Luke reply, 'Have you seen Anna?' he inquired, Han sighed heavily, and shook his head.

'No- sorry kid' he grumbled.

'Oh' Luke sounded upset, 'if you see her will you say I'm sorry?'

'Of course I will' he replied, then gave Luke an intense look, and she could only assume he was giving Han the same look.

'Be careful' Han warned.

'You too' Her heart squished a little, she reached out with the Force and brushed her consciousness against Luke's, her calming presence washing over him, and she could feel he was confused for a moment, but he took it as her forgiving him- even though she was still slightly upset. Han gave her a knowing look.

'Did you two have a domestic?' he asked, she rolled her eyes.

'Oh shut it' she warned him, before continuing the workings on the ship, before her communicator buzzed.

'Yeah?' she barked down it, strained from the awkward position she was in from fixing the ship.

'Anna?' she heard Leia call, 'the imperial fleet has entered the system' she informed her, Anna's stomach flipped, she got up and grabbed her large rifle blaster.

'Right- let's get these babies out of here' she grunted, clicking off the communication.

'Han?' she turned to him, 'this bucket of bolts is about ready- but that hyperdrive is a mess' He nodded and she jumped down, from the ship to head off to the main area of the base.

She saw all of the fighter pilots scrambling to their ships and she went over to the deck officer.  
'Commander' she greeted her.

'Corporal- I want all of these ships out of here in the next five minutes, we're preparing for a ground offensive' she instructed, 'the x-wings will cover the base whilst you get to your transport'

'Yes ma'am' she nodded, and set about organising the x-wing take offs.

Anna started to head towards the other deck when she heard Sikes over the tannoy system;  
'Echo base this is three-TA' he said, 'we have spotted imperial walkers' Anna watched as the X-wings take off, and only hoped that they would be alright, especially Luke.

Now that the fighters had got out, she moved her way over to the transports, she checked each list for the flight details of each of the ships that were leaving the system. Rieekan was on one of the last main ones to leave, Anna shook his hand tightly.

'Come back to us Commander- we need you' he said warmly, and she smiled, pecking him on the cheek, she said goodbye.

'I will try Sir,' she nodded towards the ship- 'fly safe'

She sighed when it took off, and just hoped that the fighters would be able to protect it, and the rest of the ships, from the Star Destroyers they had picked up on the scanners. She headed hurriedly through the base to the main hangar and saw Chewie still working on the Falcon.

'Chewie!' she exclaimed, he looked up at her, 'what are you doing? Is it still tripping on and off?!' her brow was furrowed and she was slightly frantic, knowing that the forces outside would not be able to hold the empire off for long. He howled back at her and she nodded, 'alright- I'll finish up and then come and help you' she called over, before leaving to a quieter corridor.

Anna flipped open her communicator and pressed the button.  
'Sikes?' she said loudly, knowing he was probably being bombarded with blaster fire, 'Sikes do you copy?'

'Anna?' he called back, 'what's wrong?'

'How's it looking out there?' she asked.

'Luke and Wedge took down a walker' he barked down the line, she heard blaster fire in the background, 'we've lost several blaster field guns' he grunted, 'we can't hold them off for long Anna' his voice was strained.

'Sikes stay safe!' she ordered, she wanted them to get out now- but she knew that for as long as they could hold the imperial troops off then the best chance they had to get everyone out.

She ran down the corridor to the south entrance where the front line was, and ultimately where Sike's team would be. She pulled the switch that opened the small door, and poked her head around the opening, blaster fire was shooting up all over the place, knocking massive chunks out of the snow, and melting into the holes they left.

She looked along the snow trench that the troops were using to fire on the imperial walkers coming at the base head-on. Then she looked up at the screaming sound she heard from down the trench, her heart raced as she saw an imperial troop carrier begin firing from the side of the trench, and snow troopers stumble out.

Anna breathed deeply, pulling her long-ranged blaster rifle around to the front of her, cocking the weapon she set it to use. She fired over the heads of the alliance troops, hitting the carrier.  
'Everybody- inside now!' she yelled at them, pulling some of them out of their dazed state.

They ran at her and she moved sideways to squirm out of the way of them. She caught Sikes' eye and gave him a grin-grimace, he was near the back of the group and once most of the troops were inside he stood next to Anna and also began firing. Blaster shots whizzed past her ear, she continued to fire at them before they started to move towards them both.

'Anna we have to move!' he grabbed her arm and they both retreated into the doorway before the storm troopers managed to move too close to them. She pulled the lock down as soon as they were safely inside and turned to the group.

'That's not going to hold them for long' she grumbled, 'most of the ships have already left- only troop carriers left now' she explained the group of about twenty, 'get to your ships now!' she gave them an order, one that they followed immediately, but Sikes stayed.

'Anna- what are you going to do?' he frowned.

'I've got a transport in the Falcon' she explained, smiling at him, 'I've got to go away for a while- but I'll be back'

'Where are you going?' he frowned, they both turned round however, when they heard the blasters attempting to gain access to the base door from the outside.

'I've got some debts to pay' she rolled her eyes, but said it urgently, 'now come on! Get to your ship' she barked, he nodded and ran in retreat from the door.

Anna pulled the weapon close again and crouched behind some of the empty cargo boxes near the entrance of one of the corridors that lead back to the main hangar. She poised the weapon, leaning it on the boxes- she had a clear shot at the door.

It took them several minutes before the door started to click open, a mechanic thudding sound rattling around the empty hangar, a sound of forced entry. She hoped that most of the ships had already gotten out of the base, and any stragglers would be picked up quickly.

When the snow-troopers began entering she fired- hitting three of them, and almost hitting another two. She manged to duck in time, and saw as the shots scorched the machinery behind her, her eyes widened and she fired again, knowing that she would have to run eventually- before they could get around to her.  
Her queue to leave came faster than she had hoped though, when she saw a black metal figure that could only be Darth Vader, her stomach dropped, making her feel nauseas, and her hear rate increased significantly. She fired two shots at him, they missed somehow, so she got up out of her crouch and ran down the corridor.

'Imperial troops have entered the base' she shouted down the comlink to the command centre, 'repeat- imperial troops have entered the base'

Anna skid down the curvature of the corridor, falling flat on her backside, a pain shooting up her left thigh bone and down from her elbow, she winced, but got to her feet quickly. Hauling herself up, she continued to run towards the Falcon which was now in view- Chewbacca was still working on it.

'Chewie!' she yelled across the huge room, 'get in- where's Han?!'

She clambered up the ramp and sprinted to the cockpit, thumping down into the seat she flicked on all the controls, as Chewie came in and sat alongside her.

'Did you manage to get the hyperdrive to work?' she asked him, he whined back. 'You hope?' she asked, disbelieved- and he nodded, 'well I hope so too' she grumbled, continuing to switch on the ship.

She saw the small hangar door on the far side of the room open and Chewie got up quickly- running down the ramp to greet Han, Threepio and the Princess. Anna shifted into the seat behind Chewbacca's and pulled out her communicator.

'Artoo?' she clicked onto his frequency, she saw his text reply come up- notifying her that he had heard her, 'Is Luke alright?' she asked quickly. His text confirmed that he was alive, she sighed, relieved. 'Stay safe you two' she mumbled, before clicking off the link and settling down into her seat.

'Leia' she greeted the Princess with a hug before they both filed out of the cockpit- to the sounds of the engine not working.

'Han!' she shouted, 'I thought you said you'd fixed it?' she accused him with a glare, he ignored her looking up at Chewie who was in one of the access compartments- steam blowing all over him.

'How's this?' he yelled, pushing a button the control panel, Leia walked over to him.

'Would it help if I got out and pushed?' she asked sarcastically, he turned to look her in the face, very closely- a grumpy expression written all over it.

'It might'

'Captain Solo!' she heard Threepio witter from the other side of the ship, he stumbled over to their group, 'Sir- might I suggest that you-' Han cut him off with a glare and holding up his finger at him.

Han barged past him to the cockpit, Anna and Leia followed him.  
'This bucket of bolts is never going to get past that blockade' she warned, sternly, Anna leaned on the doorway and watched their exchange.

'This ship's got a few surprises left in her sweetheart' he mumbled, leaning across the cockpit control panel- flicking all the necessary switches that would hopefully get them the hell out of there.

'What can I do?' Anna asked, frowning.

'When we get out of here we might need a gunner' he said, strained- reaching across from the cockpit- to the control panel, he switched on a gun, shooting up the storm troopers that were setting up a large blaster gun.

'You got it' she strapped herself in behind Chewie's seat.

'Come on!' Han yelled, seemingly at Chewbacca, 'Come on!' Chewie plonked down into his seat, 'let's hope we don't have a burnout' he grumbled, 'see' he fired on them again.

'Some day you're going to be wrong and I hope I'm around to see it' Leia teased, leaning forward in her seat.

'Punch it' Han pointed at Chewie and they raced out of the hangar, just as Anna felt the uneven feeling settling into the pit of her stomach again, just like when she saw Vader. Anna shook it off and turned to Leia.

'Why are you here?' she asked with a frown, 'couldn't stand to be away from us for too long?' she grinned, the Princess frowned back at her.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Helloooo thank you for all the follows/favourites! Also thank you for the reviews; Littlered951 and Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967!**

 **Thank you for sticking with it- even though I haven't updated as regularly, I hope to get the next few chapters up quicker!**

* * *

Anna got straight up from her seat when they felt the blaster hits from the imperial Tie fighters. The ship jostled and Anna stumbled as she made her way towards the gunners column. She climbed down and settled herself into the seat, feeling the cold leather through her trousers she put on the headset and clicked it on to frequency. Anna's eyes widened when she saw the two star destroyers ahead of them- she spun around and saw the Tie fighters, with another Star Destroyer on their tail.

'Erm Han- we got even more company' she groaned down the line, and she heard Chewie roar.

'I saw it I saw it!' He yelled at the Wookie.

'Saw what?' she heard Leia replied, annoyed.

'Two star destroyers- coming right at us' Anna looked up and saw one of the other rebel ships further towards the Imperial ships in front of them.

'Han! What are they doing?' she asked urgently down the communication line, her eyes wide with fear.

'They look like they're having trouble with their hyperdrive' he grunted.

'Did you try and fix their ship too!?' she exclaimed back, the comment dripping with sarcasm, a result of her nerves.

'Not funny A' he growled, 'what the hell are they doing?' he yelled down the line.

Anna watched in despair as the ship continued to drift towards the ominous Star destroyers.

'It's the ship that left right before ours' she heard Leia hurriedly exclaim on the communicator. Anna's stomach dropped, it was most of the engineering crew; her friends, Giles, Sikes, Malia.

'What can we do?!' she shouted, desperately.

'Nothing Anna' Han replied, 'we'd do well to stay out of that position ourselves' she felt the regret laid heavily in his voice. Anna felt the blaster fire rock the ship again, she spun the seat around and fired aggressively at the TIE fighters chasing them towards the impending doom of the huge imperial ships.

'Check the deflector shield' she heard Han order Chewie as the cockpit crew struggled to get themselves into a safe position. She hit one of the TIE fighters with her constant firing, with the others carefully dodging her laser blasts.

Anna spun around in her chair to see how close they had got to the Imperial ships just in time to see their friend's ship being blown to tiny specs of metal in front of their eyes. She drew in a breath, not quite believing that they were gone- she felt sick as the remains of her friends turn into what she could only describe as star dust.

 _Force I hope Luke got out okay_ she thought, instantly regretting her selfishness.

Her stomach flopped as Han pushed the Falcon into a dive to dodge the triangulation of the three Star Destroyers pursuing them. She grinned slightly as she saw the ships grazing past each other, but was knocked out of the admiration for her friend's flying skills as blaster fire rocked the ship again.

Han spun the ship to dodge the fire, making it difficult for the TIE fighters to hit the ship, but also making it hard for Anna to return the fire.

'Prepare to make the jump to lightspeed' she heard Han say to Chewie, and she gripped the controls tighter, her palms sweaty.

Anna heard the hyperdrive try and start up, but ended disappointed and the sound of the ship powered down.

'Err Han?' she asked hesitantly.

'Get up here and fly the ship!' he shouted back at her, and she clumsily stumbled out of her seat and up the ladder to get out of the firing bay.

She ran into Han on the way into the cockpit, he held the top of her arms, 'We're in trouble' he grumbled at her, he was terrified.

Anna carried on into the cockpit, sitting in Han's seat, she glanced over the controls, familiarising herself again with them. She watched Chewie go, and Leia moved into his seat. Anna started the evasive action needed and spun the ship to avoid the blaster fire.

'Anna are those-' Leia trailed off, and Anna's eyes went wide.

'Yeah' she dodged the asteroids as they entered the field, not managing it fully, one of the rouge meteors hitting the side of the ship.

'Han get up here' Leia spoke into the communicator. Anna tried to control the ship as best she could while they waited for Han and Chewie to enter the cockpit.

'Asteroids' Anna explained when they both got in, getting up out of her seat sitting in the one behind Chewbacca.

'Chewie set two-seven-one' he muttered and Leia exchanged a disbelieving glance with Anna.

'What are you doing?!' she exclaimed 'You're not actually going into an asteroid field?' Leia scoffed, concerned.

'They'd be crazy to follow us' Han replied, coolly, 'Wouldn't they?' Anna grinned and sat back in her seat. _Just like the good old days,_ she thought, _if we survive this then I'll kiss him._

'You don't have to do this to impress me' she sputtered, then Threepio chimed in.

'Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately three thousand-seven hundred and twenty to one' the droid was perplexed and desperately trying to stay out of danger, as usual.

'Never tell me the odds' Han replied, annoyed but determined.

Leia looked over at Anna, momentarily tearing her eyes away from the imminent destruction in front, her eyes were wide and desperate.

'Anna- do something!' she exclaimed, but Anna smiled.

'There's no stopping him now' she leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, 'besides, if we survive- it is the perfect hiding place' she grinned at the princess.

'That didn't help!' Leia replied with a scowl, returning her gaze to the asteroid field.

The scene of TIE fighters smashing into the space rocks, and in turn the asteroids crashing into each other was terrifying, and Threepio's groans audibly showed this.

'You said you wanted to be around when I made a mistake' Han grumbled, 'well this might be it sweetheart' Anna rolled her eyes, _oh great._

'I take it back' Leia said hastily, she sighed, 'we're going to get pulverised if we stay out of here much longer'

'Can't argue with that' he replied, Anna sat forward, hearing the planning in her friend's voice.

'We need to get in closer to one of those big ones' he said relatively quietly.

'Closer?!' Leia and Threepio exclaimed, and Chewie whined in protest.

'No- wait, I know what he's doing' Anna said, hopefully reassuringly.

Han skimmed the surface of the asteroid, the remaining TIE fighters in close pursuit, he got in closer to a canyon-like structure and went through the small gap in the rock. He twisted the ship and they saw the explosion of the two TIE fighters crashing into the walls of the canyon and finally they were alone.

'There' Han pointed at a hole inside on of the craters on the surface of the asteroid, 'that looks pretty good'

'What looks pretty good?' Leia asked, pulling herself up from her seat and leaning on the back of Han's.

'Yeah' he muttered, 'that'll do nicely' Anna leant upwards and looked at the hole- that's where they would be hiding.

'Excuse me ma'am' Threepio inquired, 'where are we going?' he asked Leia, but she just looked at him.

Han flew into the deep cave, finding the perfect landing spot so that they could carry out their repairs.

'I hope you know what you're doing' Leia breathed, still stood by Han's shoulder.

'Yeah me too' he mumbled.

*BREAK*

Anna was deep in the engine room trying to repair the oscillator that helps sustain the hyperdrive. Leia was repairing the shield generator with Han and Chewie was just mending everything else that had gone wrong. So far Anna hadn't heard an argument, but that could just be because she was so far away from Leia and Han.

She teased the casing open and began to tinker with the small parts that made up the tiny, yet essential to escape the imperial pursuit they were under. Anna prayed that Chewie wouldn't trip it on when he was testing the rest of the ship- she really didn't fancy ten-thousand volts ripping through her body.

After about half an hour she was finished, she headed to the cockpit. She smiled at Han, who was with Chewie, replacing the negative power coupling.

'I managed to stabilise the oscillator' she sighed, putting her hands on her hips, 'but it won't hold for too long, we desperately need to regroup- get these repairs doe properly'

'It won't hold long enough to get to the rendezvous' he groaned.

'No' she agreed, 'we'll have to find a system near here' he nodded.

'Will you go check on Leia?' he asked her with a frown.

'Why?' she asked suspicious, 'what have you done now?' she rolled her eyes.

'Nothing Anna!' he protested, 'just she might be upset- we're not exactly in a great situation' she nodded and walked off to the cockpit.

The door slid open and Anna saw Leia sat in the co-pilot seat, listening to the distant sounds of blaster fire from the Empire's sentries. Anna eased herself down into Han's chair.

'Are you okay?' she asked the princess.

'Yeah' Leia sighed, 'I just don't know how we're going to get out of this one- I mean we've been here for hours and they're still searching for us'

'I wonder why they're after us' Anna sighed.

'I know' Leia agreed, 'I mean the rest of the ships got away' she paused, 'well, most of them' Anna winced.

'Yeah' she sighed, leaning back in the chair and staring into the black darkness of the cave.

'Are you alright?' it was Leia's turn to ask now, Anna's eyes welled up- she hadn't had time to stop and think about before then.

'Not really Leia' she admitted, 'but we're at war- people die' she tried to brush it off.

'It still doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, Anna' she whispered, putting a hand on hers, and Anna looked up to her friend, her expression similar to hers, her eyes similarly wet.

'We have to beat them' Anna said so quietly, it was almost to herself, 'otherwise it will have all been for nothing' she looked up at Leia and the princess nodded at her.

They both leaned back and sat in silence for a while, Anna's thoughts drifted to Luke- she wondered how Luke was getting on with his training. She refused to believe that he didn't make it off Hoth- she certainly couldn't feel his loss, and she just hoped that he was safe. She also hoped that he wasn't made at her still, she would have given anything to have gone back and said goodbye properly. Anna was determined to see him again, screw Jabba- that meant nothing- this was where she belonged.

Anna and Leia were brought out of their day dreams by a strange noise outside the cockpit window. They both eased themselves off their seat, quietly and carefully, looking out into the dark.

Anna jumped out of her skin when a strange flying creature attached itself to the window, making a high pitched sound. Then she jumped again when Leia let out a small shriek, running from the cockpit, Anna took another look at the creature and suspected it was a Mynock, she followed Leia's route out of the cockpit and into the ship's belly.

'Argh- then I'm going with you' Anna heard Leia groan as they all exited the ship. Anna grabbed a breathing mask and followed them all. Anna followed Chewie down the ramp, he had his crossbow blaster out.

'The ground sure feels strange' Leia remarked as she stepped on the ground, 'it doesn't feel like rock'

Anna stepped out onto the spongey ground, it definitely was not rock.

'There's an awful lot of moisture in here' Han remarked, Anna agreed- something wasn't right, they were on an asteroid, it should be a cold-hard surface.

'I don't know' Leia said slowly, 'I have a bad feeling about this' _yeah, you and me both Princess._

'Yeah' Han agreed, before one of the Mynocks made a shrieking noise. Anna swung her head around to see one latched onto the ship momentarily, before Han shot it. Chewie wailed in concern, but Han reassured him as walked over to the creepy, flying creature.

'It's alright, it's alright' he said, 'yeah- it's just what I thought; Mynocks' Anna rolled her eyes, _if you'd have asked…_

'Chewie check the rest of the ship' Han instructed, 'see that there's no more attached' he looked over to Leia and Anna, 'chewing on the power cables' he explained.

'Mynocks' Leia repeated the name, looking around the cave.

'Go on inside' Han nodded to them, 'we'll clean them off if there are any more'

Just then Anna ducked as several of the creatures flew over her and Leia's heads.

'Ugh I hate those things' Anna muttered, and followed slowly after Leia who had made a run for the ramp. Anna heard the sound of blaster fire, Chewie obviously becoming irritated by the flying things, but lost her footing as the cave began to rock and move. 'I don't think this is a cave' she whispered- no one heard her, as she stumbled her way to the ramp.

She stopped to look around when the cave stopped moving, she saw Han as he tested out a theory they seemed to both be having. He raised his blaster and pointed it at the ground, once fired the cave shook ever more violently.

'Ah crap' she continued to make her way towards the ramp, stumbling and floundering on the pivoting surface.

Eventually she made it onto the ramp, just ahead of Leia, she offered her hand to the princess and they both struggled up the ramp and into the ship- Chewie mere centimetres behind them.

Once inside, Han and Leia began yelling, Anna rolled her eyes and made her way into the cockpit, in the seat behind Chewie.

'They're always at this' she mumbled, and Chewie agreed with a soft moan. Han hurried in, falling on Anna slightly- she pushed him off her and towards his seat, he was followed swiftly by Leia- barking orders.

'You can't make the jump to lightspeed in this asteroid field' she informed him.

'Sit down sweetheart we're taking off' Han retorted, flicking the switches on the control panel, before easing the ship into flight.

Threepio stumbled in at that point, 'Look!' he exclaimed, gesturing towards the closing mouth of whatever space-monster they had been unfortunate enough to land inside, 'we're doomed'

'The cave is collapsing!' Leia gasped, shocked.

'This is no cave' Anna said, glumly, at the same time Han had decided to inform her.

'What?' she asked, confused.

Han flew the Falcon out through the monster's teeth and narrowly missed being bitten by the huge creature. Anna breathed a small sigh of relief, they would have about thirty seconds before the Star Destroyers found them amongst the rocks. She had been right- one of the Imperial ships had picked up their trace almost immediately after leaving the asteroid, firing on them. Their best bet was to make it out of the asteroid field, into open space, so that they could make the jump to lightspeed.

'Oh thank goodness we're coming out of the asteroid field!' Threepio exclaimed, something they were all thinking.

It did mean, however, that now the other distractions were out of the way- the Empire's ship could focus most of their fire power on the Falcon. Blaster burst hit the ship, swaying it slightly off-course for a moment, before Han took back control.

'Let's get out of here' Han said, 'ready for lightspeed?' he asked Chewie, the Wookie growled in confirmation, 'One, two, three' Han and Chewie flipped the switches and nothing happened. They just continued to speed along behind the deadly imperial cruiser.

Anna rolled her eyes and sighed, the disbelief around the cockpit was thick enough to cut with a knife.

'It's not fixed' Han grumbled, and Chewie roared at him, they were rocked with yet more blaster fire, 'transfer circuits are all working!' Han protested to the angry Wookie.

'It's not my fault!' Han protested again, as Chewie held his hands on his head.

'No lightspeed?' a defeated Leia inquired, Anna looked over at her and shook her head.

'It's not my fault!' Han turned in his seat to look at her, before turning back, the ship was hit with more blaster fire, so Han took up trying to out manoeuvre the ship's assault on the Falcon.

'Sir, we just lost the main rear deflector shield' Threepio informed them, 'one more direct hit on the back quarter and we're done for'

'Han, you know what you have to do' Anna piped up, trying to keep Threepio from falling over.

'Turn her around!' he ordered Chewie, _oh this is really stupid- but it's probably the only way,_ Chewie roared in protest, but Han was jumping out of his seat, 'I said turn her around!' he shouted back to the Wookie.

'Throw all power into the front shield' Anna instructed, getting up and helping Han.

'You're going to attack them?!' Leia looked between the two of them in disbelief and they both got back into their seats.

'Sir, the odd of surviving a direct assault on an imperial Star Destroyer is-'

'Shut up!' Leia cut off the droid, and Anna grinned at her, she didn't see however, because she was staring out the window at their possible impending doom. Han and Chewie began to turn the Falcon around to face the Star Destroyer, _oh Force I hope this works._

Han flew at the fastest speed he could towards the control tower on the ship, then killed the thrusters, he connected easily with the other side of the control tower. They all sat in silence for a moment, hoping that their plan had worked. It had seemed to.

'If we're on the ship- they won't be able to scan for us' Anna explained to Leia, who was still frowning. Leia looked over and nodded, before they all resumed to staring out of the window- the fleet was coming together. There were at least four Star Destroyers, the large one indicating that Vader was present- _why are we so important- what do they want from us?_ Anna thought, as she leaned forward in her seat.

'Captain Solo!' Threepio exclaimed, 'this time you have gone too far!' Chewie whined at the droid, 'No I will not be quiet Chewbacca! Why doesn't anyone listen to me!'

'The fleet's beginning to break up' Han pointed out the window, 'go back and stand by the manual release of the landing claw' he instructed Chewie, who promptly got up and left the cockpit.

'I really don't see how that is going to help!' Threepio continued to whine, 'Surrender is a perfectly acceptable alternative' Han looked at Leia exacerbated, she leaned over and switched the droid off.

'Thank you' he said with a sigh.

'What do you have in mind for your next move?' Leia asked both of them.

'Well if they follow standard imperial procedure, they'll dumb their garbage before they go to lightspeed and then we'll just float away' Leia nodded, impressed.

'Like the rest of the garbage' she agreed, with a sly grin, 'then what?'

'We need to find somewhere for repairs' Anna chimed in, very much feeling like the third wheel.

'Yeah- a safe port somewhere around here' Han agreed, 'Any ideas?' he asked them both.

'Where are we?' Leia asked.

'The Noad system' Han explained, as Anna climbed into Chewie's seat.

'There's not much there- any other's nearby?' Anna asked.

'Oh wait- this is interesting' Han said, as he flicked through the star map, 'Lando' Anna looked over to him, and he gave her a side smirk.

'Lando system?' Leia asked with a frown.

'No- Lando is a man' Anna informed her, 'Lando Calrissian'

'Card player, scoundrel' Han added his credentials to the name, 'You'd like him- Anna does' he winked at Anna, and she rolled her eyes.

'Thanks' Leia sighed.

'Bespin's pretty far away, but I think we might make it' he was thinking out loud.

'Mining colony?' Leia squinted at the small display.

'Yeah it's a gas planet- Lando conned somebody out of it' He grunted, 'we all go back a long way, Lando and me, Anna and Lando' he grinned again.

'Oh shut-up' Anna quipped.

'Can you trust him?' Leia looked at both of them.

'No' they both said in unison.

'But he's got no love for the empire, I can tell you that' Han explained.

The ship shifted suddenly, the Star Destroyer was obviously preparing itself for hyperspace.

'Stand-by Chewie' he called into the communicator, 'detach' he instructed quickly, before the ship floated free from the Imperial Star Destroyer, and drifted along with the rest of the garbage the ship had collected.

'You have your moments, not many of them- but you do have them' Leia remarked, kissing the pilot on his cheek, Anna gave him a sideways look and he rolled his eyes.

Once the Star Destroyer had jumped into hyperspace, Han flew off in the other direction, towards the gas planet of Bespin. Anna felt a shiver down her spine, something wasn't right, but she shook it off as nerves.

*BREAK*

With the lack of a fully functional hyperdrive- it had taken them a good few hours before they reached the atmosphere of Bespin. Han was on the communicator to one of the guard ships that Anna presumed escorted certain spacecraft in and out of the planet's city.

'No- I don't have a landing permit' Han was getting frustrated, 'I'm trying to reach Lando Calrissian'

Laser blasts hit the ship and the cockpit shook.

'Woah! Wait a minute! Let me explain!' Han shouted down the communicator.

'You will not deviate from your present course' came the stone cold response.

'Rather touchy- aren't they?' Threepio remarked, and Anna let out a soft chuckle- he was right.

'I thought you knew this person!' Leia jibed Han.

Chewie mentioned the card game on Maccent, Anna winced and so did Han.

'Well- that was a long time ago' Han tried to reassure himself- because it wasn't working on anyone else, 'I'm sure he's forgotten about that'

They continued to fly their present course, until the guards came over the radio again.

'Permission granted, you will land on five-four-three-seven'

'Thank you' Han barked back, in his usual gruff tone, 'there's nothing to worry about, we go way back, Lando and me'

'Who's worried?' Leia remarked with a sigh, looking at Anna for support, she shrugged.

'Not me' she rolled her eyes and stared out the window at the beautiful Cloud City they were entering.

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 **Thank you for reading! Please leave a review and let me know what you think :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hellooo! Thank you for the favourites and follows from all of you lovely people who are sticking with me and this story! Thank you to Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967 and the lovely guest for the reviews- its is as always, much appreciated!**

 **This chapter is again, a bit shorter than some of my others, but my next chapter is pretty long... its also going to shift to Luke's perspective for it... hopefully it will work- anyhoo here is the next chapter!**

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Han flew in the direction of the landing panel that they had been given permission to land on. Anna had a slight niggling in her stomach that she couldn't shake, but she put it down to hunger and the stress of the day- pushing away her Force instincts.

The Falcon flew amongst the large, tall buildings before finding their landing pad, Han easily landed the ship and put the ramp down.

'Are you ready?' he breathed, turning to look at Anna and Leia, they both nodded and he got up from his seat. Han exited the cockpit with Chewie and Threepio close behind, Leia turned to Anna.

'Do you know this man?' she asked.

'I do- I'm afraid' Anna laughed, then saw Leia's worried expression, 'he's not so bad- a bit of a ladies man'

'Oh great' Leia sighed

'Yeah' Anna agreed, before she made her way out of the cockpit, Leia close on her tail.

Threepio had waited for them both so they descended the ramp ahead of the droid- Leia pulling on her gloves. Anna blinked in the wind and looked around, there was no one there and the entrance doors seemed to be closed.

'Oh no one to meet us' Threepio remarked.

'I don't like this' Leia admitted, sometimes she could be a bit over the top, but Anna had to agree with her- that niggling feeling had grown a lot since they landed.

'What would you like?' Han chuckled.

'Well, they did let us land' Threepio reasoned.

'Look don't worry' Han tried to reassure Leia, 'everything's going to be fine, trust me' he caught Anna's eye for a second, her doubtful, worried expression caused him to swallow from nerves. The sound of the doors opening pulled them out of it, however- they all looked over. Anna caught sight of Lando, _oh jeez what's with the cape…_ and several other men, they began walking towards them.

'See' Han gestured, cockily, 'my friend'

He walked over to Chewie and then muttered something, before continuing on his way towards Lando. Anna couldn't hear because of the wind- but it seemed their exchange was unfriendly- she left Leia's side and walked towards Chewbacca.

Her unease was proved wrong however, when Lando embraced a shocked Han, laughing. She smiled, still wearily, and walked further towards the two men.

'How ya' doing you old pirate!' Lando exclaimed, 'it's so good to see you!'

The strange man with a communicator type device around his head spun around and told the other men to leave.

'I never thought I'd see you again' Lando was mumbling, and then he noticed Anna, 'Susanna- is that you?' he peered at her.

'Yeah' she laughed, moving to embrace him, 'how the hell did you get this place' she gestured to the whole city.

'Aha- long story' he shrugged it off.

'What are you guys doing here?' he shook Hans shoulders.

'Ahh repairs' Han gestured to the Falcon, 'I thought you could help me out'

'What have you been doing to my ship?' He accused, Anna snickered.

'Your ship? Hey, remember, you lost her to me fair and square' Han protested, and Lando turned to wiggle his eyebrows at Anna.

'How you doing Chewbacca?' he called to the Wookie, 'still hanging around with this loser?' Chewie howled in agreement. Just then he caught sight of Leia, 'Hello- what have we here?' Anna rolled her eyes at Han, 'welcome- I'm Lando Calrissian, I'm the administrator of this facility, and who might you be?' he asked, smoothly.

'Leia' the princess said, coldly.

'Welcome Leia' he kissed her hand, and she looked up at Han. Han moved in and took Leia's hand, the jealousy written all over his face.

'All right, all right' he grunted, 'you old smoothy'

Han took Leia by the hand and they walked just behind Anna, who was making her way towards the door. She looked back and saw Threepio wittering on at Lando and supressed a chuckle at the relief that his annoying musing were getting to someone else for a change.

Anna continued to walk for the door, and was caught up to by Leia.

'You okay?' Anna asked her.

'Yeah- fine' she smiled at her, 'he's so cheesy' Anna laughed.

'Tell me about it' she muttered and they eventually followed Han and Lando inside- they were discussing the Falcon.

'You know that ship saved my life quite a few times' Lando called over to Leia, 'she's the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy'

Han and Lando continued to discuss the gas mining as they walked through the extremely clean, white marble building. Anna and Leia walked in silence, looking around their surroundings- it was extremely beautiful.

She caught Han looking back at Leia on several occasions- he really loved her, she knew that much. Anna looked behind her, knowing she was missing something.

'Hey Chewie- where's Threepio?' The Wookie looked at her and shrugged, before going back down the way they had come to see if he could find the droid.

Anna slowly continued to follow the rest of the party, making sure she didn't lose her way, but that she also didn't leave Chewie behind. He trundled back to her after a few moments without the annoying droid, she frowned at him in concern.

'Aw it's okay buddy' she smiled genuinely at the Wookie, 'I'm sure he'll turn up- he might have just wandered off' he groaned in agreement, and they continued to follow the group of Han, Leia and Lando.

They eventually came to a large living-room type room, Lando smiled at them all- his arms outstretched.

'Here will be your base' he explained, 'I'll have food sent up to you and just through those doors are some washrooms, for you to freshen up' he beamed at Leia, 'I took the liberty to ask for a change of clothes for you both to be brought up' gesturing to both Anna and Leia. Anna looked down at her jumpsuit- it had seen better days, and there were scorch marks from the heavy blaster fire there had been on Hoth- it all seemed so long ago.

'I will leave you to settle in' Lando said as he backed out of the room, 'and of course you are very welcome to take a look around the city' and he left.

'He seems on edge' Anna remarked, poking one of the cushions on the large white sofa.

'Hmmm' Han brushed his hand over his face.

'Well at the moment I don't care- I'm going to get washed up' Leia sighed and walked in the direction Lando had pointed when discussing their current state.

'Yeah, me too' Anna sighed rubbing her tired eyes, before she followed Leia into the wash room.

*BREAK*

To tell the truth, Leia had gotten the best outfit. Anna's showed a bit too much flesh for her liking, so she was grateful for the sheen jacket-type thing that went over the top. Leia had got a nice burgundy jumpsuit and Anna, a pale blue jumpsuit; they were pretty similar apart from Leia's was long-sleeved and Anna's was a halter neck, but it wasn't too bad- at least it was pretty.

Anna had taken a long shower after Leia, and had let her hair go loose to dry naturally into her soft curls. Leia had chosen to be smarter, professionally putting her hair neatly up into a bun-braid combination that Anna didn't really understand. Anna walked over to the sofa where Leia was sat.

'Still no sign of Threepio?' she asked the princess, concerned. Leia shook her head, and looked around the very bright, white room.

'No' she sighed, 'Chewie has gone to look for him again'

'Is that where Han is?' Anna looked around the room again.

'I think he's with Lando' Leia sighed, she got up and moved close to Anna, she lowered her voice to whisper to her, 'can you trust him? I have a really bad feeling'

'In all honesty Leia' Anna looked her friend in the eye and sighed, 'I have no clue- something is up with him'

Leia walked off and began pacing by the window- staring out at the tall buildings of the beautiful city. Anna eased herself down on one of the white sofa-chairs across the room from her friend, the door slid open.

'The ship's almost finished' Han announced to them both, 'two or three more things and we'll be in great shape' Anna looked at Han, he of course was looking at Leia.

'The sooner the better' Leia snapped, 'something's wrong here- no one has seen or knows anything about Threepio, he's been gone too long to have gotten lost' she had walked over to him, Han placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed her forehead.

'Relax- I'll talk to Lando, see what I can find out' Anna rolled her eyes- _that's not going to help._

'I don't trust Lando' she had stepped away from him and had plonked herself down onto a sofa facing Anna's.

'I don't trust him either' he replied to her, 'he is my friend' he muttered as he sat down close to the princess, 'besides- we'll soon be gone'

'Then you're as good as gone aren't you' she said, they both looked at each other intently.

'Oh Force- I'm out of here before you either start kissing or killing each other' Anna grumbled as she got up clumsily and made her way out of the door.

She didn't make it too far down the corridor before she ran into Chewbacca, holding the bits of Threepio, she gasped.

'What happened Chewie!?' she looked at the droid, and the obviously angry Wookie, he groaned at her, 'A junk pile?' he nodded and they walked back the way Anna had just come.

Chewie went through the door first, and Leia and Han repeated the conversation Anna had just had with him. Anna went to her small bag which contained some of her more portable tools and handed them to the Wookie.

'Chewie- you think you can repair him?' the princess asked, he shrugged, but took Anna's tools and began trying to fix the droid.

'Lando's got people who can fix him' Han suggested, but Leia gave him a stern look.

'No thanks' she snapped, right before the man himself entered the room.

'Sorry- am I interrupting anything?' he asked, casually.

'Not really' Leia replied coldly, Lando's face turned into a smile when he saw Leia looking even more beautiful than she had when they had landed.

'You look absolutely beautiful' he remarked, looking at a _ll_ of her, 'you truly belong with us among the clouds' Anna rolled her eyes, _ugh what a creep._

'Thank you' she replied diplomatically.

'Would you join me for a little refreshment' He offered, then looked at the rest of them, 'everyone's invited of course'

'Gee- how kind' Anna muttered, looking at Han, who gave her a small grin, before going over to Leia and holding out his arm to her.

'Having trouble with your droid?' Lando asked.

'No, no trouble' Han replied quickly, defensively.

They all left the room, Chewbacca and Anna at the back again- she was trying to describe to him the best way she could think of to try and fix Threepio. Lando was wittering on at Han and Leia- talking about his mining colony, Anna's ear's pricked up when he mentioned something about a deal.

'-That will keep the empire out of here forever' Lando finished. They had stopped in front of a large door, her stomach churned and flopped- making her feel nauseated, and a feeling of dread rushed through her.

Before she could tell anyone what was happening the door slide open to reveal Darth Vader stood at the very end of a long white table. Chewie growled ferociously and Han fired his baster at the Sith Lord- but all the black figure did was hold up his hand- the blaster bursts ricocheting off his hand. He used the Force to pull the blaster out of Han's grip and into his own, he set it down on the table.

'We would be honoured if you would join us' the ominous voice cut through the silence of the room. _Us?_ Boba Fett stepped out from behind a pillar. _Ahhh_

A group of storm troopers had congregated behind them as they had looked for their escape options.

'I had no choice- they arrived right before you did' Lando looked genuinely apologetic 'I'm sorry'

'I'm sorry too' Han took Leia's hand and pulled her inside the room, Anna grabbed hold of Chewie's arm and followed them in.

*BREAK*

Anna was sore, really really sore. She had been subjected to what felt like days-worth of torture at the hands of the man who had killed her father. Realistically it had only been a few hours, but the mind-probing and electrocutions really took it out of her, once she was freed from what she called the 'prison chair' she was dragged down the hallway into a large cell-like room that contained her friends. As soon as the support from the Storm Troopers had gone, Anna fell to the ground- unable to support herself. Chewie stepped over to her, picking her up in his strong, furry arms.

'Han? Leia?' she mumbled, 'are you guys alright?' she asked, before Chewie put her down on the floor, propping her up with his grip.

'What happened to you?' Han looked at her.

'The same that happened to you- except not as bad, you were screaming over me' she chuckled darkly.

'They want Luke' Leia confessed to Anna- who turned to face her with wide-eyes, 'Lando came in just before you did- it's a trap for Luke'

'Wha-what?!' Anna stammered, 'we have to do something- surely he can't be so stupid as to fall for it- he's the other side of the galaxy'

'He's on his way' Han said grimly, looking at her with sorrow.

'You and Han are being turned over to Boba Fett' Leia also explained.

'I knew that stupid tin-man wasn't here for the empire' Anna groaned, 'I presume to take us to Jabba?' she raised an eyebrow at Han, he confirmed it by nodding. 'Well at least Threepio is back' she sighed, rolling her eyes and sitting back against Chewie- waiting for their fate.

It didn't take long before the storm troopers arrived to escort them out of their cell, but it was enough time for Anna to recover her strength.

They were marched through the back corridors and towards a lift system, then they went down into the depths of Cloud City. Anna frowned, she assumed that they would have been taken straight out to the spacecraft that were taking them to Jabba.

They walked up a ramp that overlooked some kind of freezing system. Anna looked around, worried- she managed to catch Lando's eye- his face was full of remorse and she gave him a weak smile, she had no idea why, but she felt he needed it.

'What's going on, buddy?' Han asked him under his breath.

'You're being put into carbon freeze' came the whispered reply from the man who had betrayed them, he was certainly regretting it.

Anna looked at Vader, who was watching her, but she was distracted by Threepio's rantings about how he wished he'd got his legs attached, _come on Threepio- bigger picture._

Leia and Han were staring into each other's eyes- having a silent conversation and Anna's eyes were drawn back to Vader, who was discussing with Boba the price of compensation he would pay if Han didn't survive.

'-Put him in!' Vader ordered. Anna lost her cool, and so did Chewie- he howled and she screamed.

'NO!' Anna stepped towards Vader, in a move that was both very brave and very stupid. Her throat began to constrict, knocking the air right out of her- she couldn't breathe and the invisible grip on her neck tightened.

'Enough!' Vader said again, and Anna could hear Han trying to calm the Wookie down.

She couldn't focus on that though, her throat getting tighter and tighter – she was going to die. The fear of death welled up inside her, causing it to swirl and manifest itself into the strength of the Force, she summoned all her energy and let it go.

Anna was thrown backwards onto the metal of the platform she was on. In almost an instant she was being pulled to her feet by someone metal- Boba. He had a tight grip on her arm, it would have hurt if she was not so absorbed in the fact that she had pushed free of Vader- a Sith lord, something that he couldn't quite believe himself.

'Don't do that again, you stupid smuggler' Boba growled at her, in the lowest register he could muster under the helmet, 'you're worth a lot to me' Anna blinked at her unlikely saviour (sort of) and watched in horror as Han was moved into position by the storm troopers.

'I love you' Leia called to him.

'I know' he replied. In normal circumstances, Anna would have rolled her eyes at her friend's lack of chivalrous character- but it wasn't really the right time.

Anna drew in a breath as he was lowered down into the pit- it hurt her bruised throat, but she didn't care. All she could do was pray that he would survive the process.

Anna jumped when the carbonate jets were pressed on, seeing Han's face disappear from view- he had kept eye contact with Leia the whole time.

Anna was stood frozen, Boba had a tight grasp of her left wrist, and she watched, wide-eyed, as Han's carbonite containment was pulled out of the chamber. Chewie howled in pain, Anna took a step towards the Wookie, but was stopped by the constricting hand grasping her wrist.

Two creatures started fumbling with the containment when it was out, before letting it fall onto the hard metal surface of the chamber. Anna jumped, so did Leia. She hated that she couldn't be there for her friend when she needed her the most- she could see the pain and despair written all over Leia's face.

'Well Calrissian' Vader's ominous voice boomed, 'did he survive?'

'Yes he's alive' Lando replied, Anna let out a huge breath she had been holding, _at least he was alive_ , 'and in perfect hibernation'

Vader turned to Boba, Anna kept her eyes on Han, 'He's all yours bounty hunter' Boba nodded, and finally let go of her wrist, her hand tingled from the sudden rush of blood.

'Reset the chamber for Skywalker' Vader ordered one of the Stormtroopers, Anna's stomach churned.

'Skywalker has just landed, my lord' an imperial soldier informed him, Anna looked at Leia and Chewie- panicked.

'Good. See to it that he finds his way in here' Vader replied, before walking over to Lando and the rest of them.

'Calrissian, take the princess and the Wookie to my ship' Anna's heart stopped for a second- _he can't take them! He'll kill them!_

'You said they'd be left in the city under my supervision!' Lando protested

'I'm altering the deal- pray I don't alter it any further' The Sith Lord instructed Lando, before turning and striding away.

Anna was pulled out of her panic by Boba Fett thrusting a blaster into the small of her back to encourage her to move. She didn't know why he did that- seeing as though she was worth something to him _alive._

She was marched through the beautiful city, in front of the soldiers that had control of Han's carbonite prison, she just hoped and prayed that Luke would be alright.

Just then Anna's ear's pricked up- she could hear Artoo. Boba had stopped walking and had walked back around the corner, he took out his blaster and fired. It was Luke.

'LUKE IT'S A TRAP!' she screamed, only catching glimpses of him as she was picked up by Boba, whom had ceased firing and was now entangled with her, and she fought to warn Luke. Anna pushed Boba off her and gripped the wall.

'LUKE IT'S A- ' her mouth got covered, she urgently fought Boba, she saw Luke and he saw her- his eyes were wide and hers were terrified, 'VADER!' was all she could say before she was dragged away by Boba and the two Storm Troopers.

Anna was cuffed before they could carry on much further, and now both the Storm Troopers stood either side of her. She was thankful though, she had seen Luke before she would most likely die at the hands of Jabba, and Anna refused to believe that Vader would kill Luke.

They were taken out onto a landing platform that housed Boba's ship, and Anna was escorted inside, climbing the ramp after they loaded Han on board. Anna was put on a rickety, fold-down seat next to Han's carbonite prison.

Once the ramp closed up everything went dark, there was only a faint light coming from the cockpit. She felt the whirring of the ship under her feet, all she could do was sit in the dim light and stare at Han's frozen face- then the tears started to fall.

* * *

 **Aww poor Anna! Let me know what you thought! Thank you for reading :)**


	19. Chapter 19

**This is chapter is arrrgh! I enjoyed writing it, but I am not sure about it... so I finally decided to post it, even though I'm not happy with it!**

 **I'd like to thank everyone for their follows, and I hope you're still enjoying the story?**

 **Thank you to the ever faithful Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967 for your review, and thank you to America'sFirstRebel for your lovely review- I'm glad you like it!**

 **Anyhoo! I would really appreciate reviews for this chapter- to see if it needs rewriting! Also, let me know if you're still sticking with it!**

 **This chapter is Luke's perspective.**

* * *

The smell was the first thing to hit Luke as he descended the stairs in Jabba's palace. It was a musty odour of sweat that presumably was coming from the several hundred people dotted around and about the sleeping, what he could only describe as, lair. A creature scurried towards him, and asked him why he was there and what he wanted, but he knew exactly who he was.

'I must speak with Jabba' Luke replied calmly, but the creature tried to stop him, so he reached to the Force, 'you will take me to Jabba now' He moved his finger in gesture, using a mind trick he had seen only a few times.

The alien confirmed his order and led the young Jedi down the steps and into the depths of the palace.

'You serve your master well' Luke said, again calmly, 'and you will be rewarded'

Luke made it to the centre of the throne room, he caught sight of Leia and the droids, even Lando- but couldn't see Han or Chewie, which was fine because they were no doubt being kept in the cells below. Panic rose in him for a second as he couldn't see Anna- his eyes darted around the room, and saw Boba Fett staring at him.

'Is this what you're looking for Skywalker?' he grunted as he pulled on a chain he was holding- thrusting Anna against his colourful armour.

It was hard to believe that he had forgotten how beautiful she was, but he had- her brilliant blue eyes were wide with panic, they stood out in the gloom especially because they were framed with incredibly dark make-up. Her hair was, big, that was the only word Luke could think to describe it, and tangled- that word worked too.

Boba Fett pushed her towards him and she caught her bare foot on a stone tile, tumbling in front of the Jedi. Luke caught her by her waist, and swallowed- she had been right, Jabba didn't let women wear a lot. He tore his eyes from her lack of full clothing to her face, she had tears in her eyes and in that moment he knew exactly how he felt about her.

 _You came?_ She sent through the Force, a smile starting to linger on her mouth, before she was pulled back by the chain around her neck towards the bounty hunter.

Luke tried to bury his anger and turned his attention back to the large beast in front of him, the creature he had spoken to had finally woke him up- and he was not happy about it.

'I must be allowed to speak' Luke said, staring down the enormous Jabba. Jabba had figured out what Luke was doing with the mind trick, _here goes nothing._

'You will bring Captain Solo and the Wookie to me' he ordered.

Jabba just laughed, _ah well_ , Boba had moved into view of Luke- standing to the side of Jabba, he tried not to look at Anna, so instead looked at an exasperated Leia.

'Never the less' Luke replied to the amusement of the Hutt, 'I am taking Captain Solo, and his friends, you could either profit by this, or be destroyed, it's your choice but I warn you not to underestimate my power'

Jabba made a strange noise and leaned back, whilst a frantic Threepio caught his eye.

'Master Luke your standing on-' he started to say before he was interrupted by Jabba's shouting.

Lando was making his way towards them, slowly, he was in position. Luke took his chance at grabbing a blaster from one of the guard's holsters using the Force, he aimed it at Jabba before he was grabbed by the guards who had surrounded him.

'Luke!' he heard Anna cry, as the ground beneath him gave way and he fell into a large, sandy pit, one of the guards tumbling after him.

 _This can't be good_

Luke spun around to stare as a huge metal door was raised, revealing a huge monster-type thing he'd never seen before, but from what he heard- Threepio was all too familiar. Its humongous claws spread out as it made its way towards Luke, he watched in horror as the creature grabbed the guard that had fallen with him and bit off its head.

Luke backed away- terrified, he could hear the screams of laughter coming from the throne room. The beast had finally finished munching on the guard and turned to Luke, who was now frantically looking for something he could fight the creature with- he could really have done with his lightsaber, but that was for later.

Luke grabbed a bone of one of the other unsuspecting victims of the giant beast and waved it- it was to no avail however, the creature picked him up in its grasp and pulled him towards its mouth. As Luke got closer and closer to its jaws, he had an idea- sticking the bone inside its mouth caused the animal momentary pain, he dropped Luke onto the hard, sandy ground.

Once on the ground he rolled under a rock face, out of the grip of the monster.

Luke spied the door the other side of the chamber, he would have to run straight under the massive creature. After beating its claws away from him, he managed to make a run for it- opening the door he came up against an unyielding metal grate.

Luke was pushed back towards the beast by some of Jabba's minions and had no idea what to do. He suddenly caught sight of the switch that pulled the door down, grabbing a rock-that turned out to be a skull- he threw it at the button the precise moment the monster was under the door.

The great beast came crashing down to the ground, dead.

Luke sighed with relief, before he was thrown around by the guards. He was led back to the throne room by Lando, whilst being reunited with Han and Chewie.

'Han!' He called, the pilot looked towards the direction the voice came from.

'Luke?' Came the reply- he was being shoved around by a guard.

'Are you alright?' he asked his friend.

'Fine' Han grumbled, 'together again, huh?'

'Wouldn't miss it' Luke retorted, as they stumbled through the crowds of people to get to Jabba.

'How are we doing?' Han asked with a grunt.

'Same as always'

'That bad huh?' Han laughed at Luke's remark, 'where's Leia?' he asked

'I'm here' she replied from the clutches of Jabba.

'And Anna?' turned towards Luke, and Luke searched for her in the crowd.

As soon as he made eye contact with her, she seemed to lose all sense she had- she flipped one of the giant metal trays full of drinks one of the women was carrying and pulled it into her grasp. Getting a good hold of it she swung it around and hit Boba Fett full in the metal helmet- Jabba somehow saw this and barked an order at the bounty hunter.

Suddenly Anna had joined Luke, Han and Chewie in front of the Hutt.

'Han!' she exclaimed, pulling him into a hug.

'Anna what the hell are you wearing?' he barked at her, obviously feeling her uncovered flesh.

'Don't get me started' she grumbled, as they turned their attention to Threepio, who was now translating something from Jabba.

'-Jabba the Hutt has decreed that you are to be terminated immediately' Threepio sadly informed them.

'Good I hate long waits' Han remarked, and Anna grinned wildly.

'You will therefore be taken to the dune sea' Threepio continued, 'and cast into the pit of Carkoon, the nesting place of the all-powerful Sarlacc'

Luke nodded, this was what he had hoped for. Anna caught his eye whilst he nodded and raised an eyebrow- he could tell she knew he had a plan.

'That doesn't sound too bad' Han remarked.

'In his belly you will find a new definition of pain and suffering, as you are slowly digested over a thousand years'

Anna winced and rolled her eyes.

'You and your big mouth, Han' she grumbled.

'On second thoughts lets pass on that, huh?' He retorted.

'You should have bargained Jabba' Luke warned, 'that's the last mistake you'll ever make' he shouted over the commotion as they were being led away.

They were loaded onto a speeder type thing, Anna was the last on, straight after Luke.

'Hey!' she yelled at one of the guards, 'you could be nicer!'

The alien replied with something that made her even more mad.

'Well! You look like someone's chewed you and spat you out again!' she shouted at the creature, then spun around with a frown.

'What's up with you?' Han remarked with a laugh.

'Han my darling, you have been frozen in carbonite for the last eleven and a half months, me?' she said matter-of-factly, 'I've had to live with these creatures, and to tell you the truth- they're not very nice'

She sighed after her rant was over and smiled at Luke. He was looking at her, erm, costume; it was some kind of all-in-one leotard type thing, with a deep 'v' at the front, and the back. It was leaving hardly anything to the imagination, but he caught sight of a dotted type of tan.

'What's this?' he asked, pointing to her collarbone, trying not to gesture further down, for fear of a scolding. Anna looked down at it.

'Oh it was from the other week- we were outside and I was in this kind of string/mesh jumpsuit' she laughed, 'Seriously- this thing' she gesticulated to her leotard, 'is nothing compared to some of them'

Luke swallowed, hard, as Lando moved in behind him.

'It was a good day' he said in a low tone, but Anna heard him, and turned to look at him.

'I will pretend I'm offended, but after almost a year in this place- I'm really not'

Luke sighed, he felt incredibly guilty about how long it had taken them to get here, there had been several problems in the rebellion during the time and they had just not been able to get away. Something had changed in Anna, she was stronger – in herself, and in the Force, she also had less optimism, that much was true. He couldn't blame her though, it was almost a year she had been captive, and every single day he wished he could have been with her.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Anna turning to him and putting her lips close to his ear.

'You do have a plan, right?' she asked in a whisper.

'Mmmhmmm' he replied to her, and she smiled, kissing his cheek.

'I'm sorry about before' she again, whispered, to him. He turned to meet her gaze, one of which was full of sorrow- he couldn't reply to that, why was she even sorry?

He wrapped an arm around her waist and she lent her head on his shoulder, as the speeders began to leave the palace complex, he kissed the top of her head.

*BREAK*

It took them over two hours before they came anywhere close to the Pit of Carkoon, Anna had moved out of his embrace, and Luke had swapped places with Chewie.

'Huh' Han mumbled, 'I think my eyes are getting better, instead of a big dark blur, I see a big light blur'

'There's nothing to see' Luke commented with a grin, 'I used to live here you know'

'You're gonna die here, you know' Han retorted in a low register, looking in the vague direction of his face, 'convenient'

Luke sighed and rolled his eyes at his friend's lack of faith.

'Just stick close to Chewie, Lando and Anna- I've taken care of everything'

'Oh' Han replied sarcastically, 'great' Luke heard Anna laughing from behind him- he turned to look at her.

'I'm with Han' she grinned at Luke, who rolled his eyes at her, but smiled nonetheless.

*BREAK*

Once they had arrived at the pit, the guards started making a commotion.

'Who's going to die first then?' Anna asked, cheerily, Luke and the rest of them ignored her, 'alright- I'll go'

Luke sighed and pushed her back to next to Chewie.

'Shh Anna' he mumbled at her, as he moved into position on the gangplank. Luke looked over the edge of the speeder, the pit was writhing with the creature known as the Sarlacc, he sighed.

 _Now or never._

'Victims of the almighty Sarlacc' Threepio boomed over the microphone, 'his excellency hopes that you will die honourably, but should any of you wish to beg for mercy, the great Jabba the Hutt will now listen to your pleas'

'Threepio!' Han yelled, 'You tell that slimy, worm-ridden piece of filth, he'll get no such pleasure from us!' he looked (sort-of) around, 'right?'

'Yeah!' Anna piped up, 'and hey Jabba! If you were inside out- no one would know the difference!' she laughed at her own joke as Luke turned around to look at her, 'what?' she grumbled.

'Jabba?' Luke shouted, 'this is your last chance- free us, or die'

Luke gestured to Artoo- he was ready, nodded at Lando- he was ready.

 _Here we go_ he thought.

Luke was prodded by one of the guards along the plank and moved into position above the pit.

Luke jumped off the plank and used it to flip himself up back onto the deck, just in time for him to catch his light saber, which he ignited and used to take out three of the guards. Lando took off his helmet and used it to batter one of the other guards around the face- and over the side of the speeder- into the pit below.

Luke untied Chewie's restraints, as Anna undid Han's. Once they were free, Anna ran at Boba Fett who had just landed on the speeder. Luke went to chop his blaster in half, but saw Anna tackle him to the floor of the speeder, _okay she's got this._

A blaster blast momentarily distracted Luke, as Chewbacca threw himself on top of Han to protect him. Somehow Boba had gotten free of Anna's grasp and managed to tie Luke up in some kind of rope, Luke only just managed to swirl his lightsaber to avoid being hit with blaster rounds. Luke's pulling on the rope caused Boba to fall to the floor of the speeder once again, and Anna- nursing a gnash on her left cheekbone- grabbed him again, pulling the bounty hunter to his feet.

They were all nearly hit by blaster fire from the opposite speeder, so Luke Force-jumped across the gap between them and landed well enough to take down the guards on that ship.

Once finished there, Luke looked across the scene of commotion and saw that Anna was no longer on the speeder with Han and a wounded Chewie, but wrestling in the sand with Boba Fett. He worried for a moment, but saw as Anna kicked the bounty hunter hard in the metal helmet, which sent him tumbling into the mouth of the Sarlacc. Anna had shouted something, but Luke couldn't hear it over the persistent blaster fire coming from the large barge.

Luke ran and jumped straight onto the barge, holding onto a window. He almost fell right off it in fright as one of Jabba's people started clambering out of the window with his blaster drawn- Luke pulled him out and carried on climbing up to the deck.

Luke took out the gunner who was currently trying to kill his friends, happily noting that Anna and Lando were now both safely onto the speeder. He moved onto the other fighters now, who were extremely angry that their execution fun was being interrupted, he swung his lightsaber at them- defeating them easily.

Leia appeared instantly, from a lower deck and Luke had an idea- if the gun went off on at the deck, then the whole barge would explode.

'Get the gun!' he yelled at Leia, who quickly went about trying to carry out his orders, whilst dodging the blaster wielding goons Luke was trying to combat, 'point it at the deck!' he yelled once she had control of the weapon.

Just as Luke dodged the blaster rounds from those behind him, he felt a sharp pain in his artificial hand. He spun around and took out the offending guard whom had shot him and then turned his attention back to Leia- who had pointed the large weapon at the barge deck.

He grabbed a rope and gestured to her,

'Come on!'

He grabbed hold of her, before kicking the gun into action and then swinging to the safety of the speeder.

'Let's go and don't forget the droids' Luke said to Lando as soon as they landed.

'We're on our way' Lando confirmed, picking up the two droids as they went.

Anna got up from where she and Han were nursing the injured Chewbacca to embrace Leia.

'I'm so glad you're safe!' she exclaimed as she pulled the princess into another embrace.

Anna then moved over to Lando, who was successfully steering the speeder away from the barge and back to Ben's old hut, which they were using as a base until they flew out the day after. Anna planted a kiss on his cheek.

'It's good to see you back, old friend' she said with a smile, before turning to look at Luke.

He was watching her in the sunlight, the strange tan on her body was even more prominent in the early afternoon sun and her dark hair had a red tinge in the light.

'Seen as though we have a few hours to kill- I'm going to even out this tan' she laughed before lying down on the deck of the speeder.

Luke sighed, trying not to look at how gorgeous Anna looked, he went over to Han and Chewie.

'Are you guys alright?' He looked at Han.

'Yeah- my eyesight's getting better, just a bit blurry now' he explained, 'and Chewie here has taken a hit- but it shouldn't be too bad to treat'

'We can have a look at that when we get back to the hut' Luke explained

'Hut?' Han asked with an eyebrow raised.

'Yeah- are we not getting straight out of here?' Anna asked, shuffling along the floor of the speeder.

Luke sighed, and went from his crouching position to sitting on the floor opposite Han, Anna shuffled close to him.

'We're staying in Ben's old hut, just for a night, maybe two' Luke shrugged, 'there's a bad weather system coming in- hopefully we won't have to take off in it- but we can't stay more than two nights, the rebellion needs us'

'They do indeed,' Leia agreed, sitting next to Han, linking her arm with his, 'we've been gone too long already'

'We have' he sighed, 'but we'll try and wait this sandstorm out- they can be dangerous' Luke informed them all of the plan.

'Alright then' Anna sighed, 'we better be quick though' she pointed to the distance, they all turned to look.

Luke squinted in the light, and then his eyes went wide, he saw a cloud of dust forming into a storm in the direct they needed to be in.

'Lando!' Luke shouted, getting up from his sitting position, 'we're going to have to be quick'

*BREAK*

They had made it to safety just in time, the sand storm whistling past the windows of the hut as they ran around the house closing all the open shutters, ensuring their safety.

Everyone had congregated in the largish living area, sitting on the various sofas and chairs that they would probably have to use as a bed.

'There's two bedrooms' Luke sighed, 'Chewie and Lando already have their room, and I've been sleeping out here and Leia-'

'Han can share my room' she offered, quickly.

'Subtle Leia' Anna remarked with an eyebrow wiggle, 'I'll bunk out here with you then Luke?' she smiled over to him, and he nodded quickly.

'Okay then, I guess that's everyone sorted' he said, looking around at all of them.

'Unless you snore' Anna quipped, 'then I think I'll take my chances with Lando and Chewie' she laughed, before heading towards the door of the room, 'where's the kitchen? I really need a drink' she smiled slightly, looking at all of them.

'Here- I'll show you' Luke offered, following her out of the room.

His palms suddenly became extremely sweaty and his heartbeat had risen- he tried not to look at her. It didn't work.

'Its erm, here' he stopped by a doorway a bit further down the corridor and watched as she turned into the room. It was a small galley kitchen, all white, and there were washed glasses on the side next to the sink, ones they had used during their two week stay on Tatooine.

Anna picked up a glass and ran a tap of cool water into it, then drinking it in one go, she placed the glass back down on the side, she wiped her mouth with her wrist and sighed.

'That's better' she smiled up at Luke, who was extremely cautious to only give her direct eye contact, which was made more difficult by her walking towards him.

Anna wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest, his breath faltered for a second.

'Thank you for coming to get us' she whispered, Luke sighed and wrapped his arms around her.

'I'm sorry it wasn't sooner' he apologised into her hair, but she pulled away to frown at him.

'I'm sure you had plenty of your own difficulties going-' she stopped dead. Whilst she had been talking, she had taken his hands in hers, she'd seen the blaster hit bionic hand.

'Luke?' she gasped, her eyes wide and teary, 'did he do this to you?'

'Vader?' Luke sighed, and nodded, 'yes'

'He's a monster Luke,' she started, 'I told you he killed my father didn't I? Are you alright? Did it happen on cloud city?' she was asking far too many questions, and he had to tell someone.

'He's my father, Anna' Luke breathed, softly, she stopped again, and somehow her eyes were wider.

'W-what?' she stammered, _oh Force she hates me…_

'Darth Vader is my father' he forced the words out of his mouth, painfully. A look of shock and horror was written across her face.

They stood there in stunned silent for what felt like hours, but it could only have been seconds before Anna pulled Luke into an even tighter hug than before.

'I'm so sorry Luke' she whispered, over and over. He pressed his face into her neck, the smell of her was extremely comforting, and held her tightly.

When she eventually pulled away, he sighed.

'Let's not talk about it anymore' he suggested, and she worriedly nodded in agreement.

'Alright- although you know you can, right?' she held onto both his hands, he nodded.

'I know' he smiled, genuinely at her, she had no idea how much he had missed her.

'Well I'm going to take a shower' she turned to the door, stepping away from him, 'have you got any non-extremely-revealing clothes I could wear?' she laughed.

Luke's eyes strayed onto her uncovered body once more, before he snapped them straight up to her eyes.

'Erm yeah' he coughed, 'Lando went into town last week with Leia, I think they got something for you'

'Aren't they sweet?' she grinned.

'Do you need me to show you where the shower is?' he asked, innocently.

'I think I'll be able to find it, but thanks' she smiled mischievously, 'I'll see you in a bit' she began walking down the corridor, 'Oh and Luke?' she turned to him and he raised an eyebrow at her.

'Yeah?'

'My eyes are up here, Jedi' she grinned at his shocked face, which was now turning a bright scarlet.

He put his face in his hands to hide his embarrassment, but before he knew it- Anna was back in front of him. She took his hands from his face, and moved them to her waist, moving towards him, he could feel his heartbeat in his ears. She brushed her hands across his cheeks before leaning in and pressing her lips to his.

He swore his heart stopped. And then he kissed her back, passionately, it was like nothing they had done before- it was emotionally charged, they'd grown up, it was real.

Anna broke away for air, she smiled before kissing his lips very slightly again, and turning to leave for her shower.

Luke watched her go, before turning to wander back into the living room.

'Where's Anna?' Han asked him, he was seated on one of the sofas with Leia who had changed out of her outfit and into some pants and a large jumper.

'She's gone to take a shower' he looked at Han and Leia, she had her head on his shoulder, 'and to get changed'

Han just nodded, as Luke wandered over to a sofa seat opposite the pair, and sat down.

*BREAK*

Anna had taken a lot longer than Luke had expected, it had been over an hour but there was still no sign of her, he sighed – getting up from where he'd been sat.

'I'm going to go check on her' he informed the room's occupants, and Lando swiftly took Luke's seat, which was comfier than the one he'd been sat on.

Luke walked down the corridor they had kissed in, and made his way to the back of the hut where the bathroom was. It also had a small balcony type thing at the top of the roof, it was more like a window seat- that you could look out of the window and across the desert.

He could feel her presence, but for some reason she was trying to shield from him, he frowned before climbing up onto the balcony that he knew she was on.

Luke didn't, however, expect that she would be crying, or more accurately- sobbing. She tried to stop when she saw him, but it didn't work, she just covered her face and carried on. He brushed off his shock and moved in to cradle her in his arms, she turned her face towards him and cried into his neck.

He held her as the minutes went by, she just sobbed. Eventually she spoke, her voice cracking from the strain of crying so heavily.

'I-I just-' her voice broke, and she let out a sniffle, 'Luke it was horrible' she cried again, 'I thought I was going to die- I was humiliated' she began to sob again and couldn't finish her sentence.

'Shh, you're alright now' he cooed at her, as he stroked her hair and let her cry into his shoulder.

'I used to sleep on the floor where they kept Han' she admitted in a higher tone than she usually spoke, the tears still flooding down her face, 'Boba Fett used to try and get me to spend the night with him-' she again, lost control.

'Anna, look at me' he held her shoulders, 'you are safe- I promise I won't let anything like that happen again'

She sniffled and nodded, her tears had stopped and she wiped her nose with the edge of her sleeve. She had changed into a long jumper/dress, that still left her tanned-smooth legs on show- but he guessed it was comfy.

Anna moved forward and rested her head on his chest, they stayed like that for a while, he could feel her becoming calmer and eventually he spoke.

'Are you hungry?' he whispered. Anna moved her head away from him and looked him in the eyes, she nodded with a slight smile, 'Come on then'

He pulled her to her feet and they both clambered down from the balcony, and walked back into the living room, where the rest of them had put food out onto the large coffee table in the centre of the room.

'You alright A?' Han asked her, she walked over to his seat and sat next to him.

'Better now' she admitted, they hugged each other as Luke helped Leia dish out the food.

Luke handed Han a plate of food, and Anna got up, letting Leia have her seat back, and moved over to get a plate of food for herself.

Luke settled himself into a comfy chair next to the sofa Leia and Han occupied, he watched as Anna sat on the sofa opposite, she nestled herself in between Lando and Chewbacca. Her hair was almost dry by now, her soft curls forming in her dark hair, she was incredibly tanned compared to the pale completion she had on Hoth.

She caught him looking at her and smiled. He absolutely adored her.

'I didn't know you had a tattoo' Lando remarked, looking at Anna.

'When did you see that?' she frowned, puzzled.

'The other day- in that erm, costume-' he grunted, and she laughed.

'Oh yeah' she rolled her eyes at Lando before continuing with her food.

'What is it?' Lando asked Anna.

'It's a Daska flower- from Alderaan' she smiled fondly before again continuing with her food- Luke could tell she was embarrassed about it, so he just let it go, although he was curious.

Eventually, after hours of talking, everyone started to slip off to bed. Anna was grabbing some blankets from one of the cupboards, whilst Luke was switching off the lights- ready for bed.

She made her way back into the room and placed the pillow she had retrieved and her blanket onto the larger of the two sofas.

'Luke, are you sure you don't want this one?' he turned to look at her.

'No- I'm alright, I've been sleeping on this one anyway' he shrugged, and she frowned.

'You slept on the smaller sofa, even though no one else was here?' she asked, and he rolled his eyes.

'Okay-I'm stupid' he admitted and she laughed at him, before settling down onto her make-shift bed.

'Night Luke' she grinned over to him, as he eased himself down into his bed.

'Goodnight Anna' he replied softly, before turning out the last light.

Luke closed his eyes, but he just couldn't sleep- he sighed and sat up.

'Luke?' he snapped his head around to where Anna had whispered his name. It had startled him in the silence of the night.

'Anna? Are you alright?' he asked, squinting whilst his night vison improved.

'I was about to ask you the same thing' he saw a flash of white in the dark- she briefly smiled, and then he felt her presence coming closer to him.

Anna sat down on the edge of the sofa next to him, he suddenly became very aware that he was in nothing but his underwear, and she-nothing but a t-shirt.

'What's wrong?' she asked, again in a whisper, her hands catching his in the dark.

'Nothing' he lied.

'I told you I can tell when you lie' she sighed, and grinned at him.

'I have to go again' he sighed, knowing in the Force that he had to see Yoda- soon.

'Where?' she frowned.

'Dagobah' he sighed, 'I have to see Master Yoda'

'Yoda? The Yoda?' she asked, surprised.

'Yeah' he laughed softly.

'I thought he was dead' she said.

'No, he's very much alive' he paused for a moment, 'and bossy'

'Is that who you were training with last year?'

Luke nodded and smiled at her.

'Yeah- but I didn't complete my training' he admitted with a sigh, 'I left for cloud city before I could finish everything'

'Ahh' she sighed 'I see, why did you come to cloud city Luke?' she asked, he frowned, 'could you not sense a trap?'

Luke sighed, and shifted from where he was sat up so that he could face her.

'It could have been a trap' he sighed, 'but I couldn't take the risk of you all being hurt'

'Luke-' she sighed, 'you could have died'

'I didn't though' he shrugged.

He was caught off-guard when she kissed him, so much it knocked him over backwards onto the sofa. He felt her smile against his lips at his shock, until he kissed her back, she moved so that she was on top of him. He grasped at her waist and she caressed his face and chest before they took a break to breathe.

'Erm, hi?' he chuckled.

'Sorry' she murmured, before sliding down to the side of him and cuddling into him.

* * *

 **Hmmm... what do you think?**


	20. Chapter 20

**I know it has been forever and I am so sorry! Life got busy... but I'm back! I hope you enjoy this chapter (its a little smaller, but I'll be back soon!)**

 **Thank you for your reviews and follows and favourites since I've been gone :) Please let me know what you think...**

* * *

Anna clutched her robe around herself and squinted through her sand goggles, the group were making their way through the sand storm that hadn't cleared over the time they had been hauled up there. Luke was heading to his X-wing, and with a look to him, Anna smiled and turned up the ramp to the Falcon.

She stumbled inside with the wind whipping the sand around her face along with Leia, Lando and Threepio. Chewie was already inside firing up the engines, and Han was having a little moment with Luke.

'Ready to go?' Anna asked Leia, who was mirroring her in taking off the robe and goggles.

'I think so' Leia sighed with a frown.

'We'll be alright' Anna reassured her, knowing that the battle with the Empire was coming to a climax that was either a win, or an utterly devastating loss.

'Hmm' she didn't ease the frown, and shuffled off to the cockpit, Anna following closely behind.

Leia took her seat behind Han's usual one, and Anna stood awkwardly at the doorway- Lando sitting in her usual seat. She folded her arms across her chest and peered out of the screen to the orange mass of sand swirling about outside, Han made her jump when he shoved past her.

'Ugh whatcha doing there?' he asked gruffly, and then saw Lando and shrugged at her.

'Everyone ready to go?' Lando asked, flicking the switches on the dash, leaning around Chewie.

'Yeah sure' Anna smiled, and Leia joined her in walking out of the cockpit and through the ship to the seating area.

'What's going down?' Anna turned to Leia as soon as they had taken off, Leia shoved a mug over to her.

'There was a mission that was sent to retrieve some information, it left three months before we came for you, it should be back now'

'What kind of information?' Anna asked, sipping on her tea.

'Any details of the Empire's next move' Leia frowned.

'Aren't you worried that they'll find out what you're doing?'

'Of course Anna, but we have to take the risk'

'Sure' she sighed, 'I just hope it's worth it'

*BREAK*

They landed after a couple of hours, on the space port that was being used as the base for the rebellion.

'Commander Carter?' Admiral Ackbar called as he and his Vice-Admirals stormed down the corridor Anna was currently stumbling down with Leia, Han and Lando had been whisked off to some meetings or something.

'Yes Sir' she spun around and saluted her superior.

'Good work on Tatooine, I'm glad to see you well' he barked at her.

'Thank you Sir, looking forward to getting stuck in' she smiled and Leia smiled too.

'Good, as you're no longer a commander' he barked again, Anna frowned.

'I-I don't understand sir?' she stammered, confused at whether this was a good or bad thing.

'Get to work General Carter' he laughed shortly, 'you're teamed with General Solo- he'll brief you'

Anna's eyebrows rose and she turned to look at Leia, who had disbelief written all over it.

'Thank you Sir' she smiled as Ackbar was already marching off, 'Han a general?'

'We're never going to live that down' Leia laughed as they both continued to walk to the command centre, following Ackbar and his deputies.

They made their way into the room which was buzzing with rebel soldiers, but neither of them could see Han.

'General Carter?' Anna wheeled around to find a spritely young soldier stood there.

'Yes?' she smiled.

'We've been assigned to your unit' she looked behind him and saw four other soldiers standing there.

'Great' she smiled again, 'are you my NCOs?' the leader nodded.

'Yes I'm Sergeant Long' he smiled back to her, 'our squad has thirty'

'Right well' she stammered, not really knowing the plan, 'I will brief you after the meeting?'

'Of course ma'am'

'We're teamed with General Solo's squad'

They spun around and walked off, Anna's eyes scanned the room and spotted Han and Lando talking. She made her way over to them, noticing Leia was in conversation with some members of the Alliance.

'You're the respectable one remember?' Han grinned at Lando and sat down.

'You two alright?' she asked them with a grin, 'what's with us being generals?' she laughed, sitting down next to Chewie and Han, before the briefing began by Mon Mothma.

'The emperor has made a critical error' she began, 'and the time for our attack has come'

The hologram table whirred into life as Mon Mothma continued.

'The data brought to us by Bothan spies pinpoint the exact location of the emperor's new battle station' she paused, with a slight smile, 'we also know that the weapon systems of this Death Star are not yet operational'

Han shuffled in his seat, and Anna glanced to him, before returning her focus back to Mothma.

'With the imperial fleet spread throughout the galaxy in a vain effort to engage us, it is relatively unprotected' she paused again, for effect Anna thought, 'But most important of all, we've learnt that the emperor himself is personally overseeing the final stages of the construction of this Death Star'

Anna grabbed Han's knee in shock, looking at him, she saw him share a slight smirk with Lando- they'd obviously been briefed on this before the rest of them.

'Many Bothans died to bring us this information' Anna's attention was pulled back to Mothma, but her hand still rested on Han's knee, 'Admiral Akbar, please' she gestured behind her to the Admiral who took up place at the hologram table.

'You can see here the Death Star orbiting the forest moon of Endor' he began his briefing, his gruff voice carrying across the room that was fully focused on him.

'Although the weapon systems on this Death Star are not yet operational, the Death Star does have a strong defence mechanism' Anna leaned on Han, afraid that she would lose him- this was going to be tough- she could tell by how he was squirming.

'It is protected by an energy shield' Ackbar continued, 'which is generated by the nearby forest moon of Endor'

They all watched as the hologram depicted the energy shield rising from the surface of the moon and wrapping its protective bubble around the incomplete Death Star.

'The shield must be deactivated if any attack is to be attempted' Ackbar informed the engaged group, Anna sat forward in her seat with a sigh, seeing where this was going entirely.

'Once the shield is down, our cruisers will create a perimeter' the hologram zoomed in on the Death Star itself, 'while the fighters fly into the superstructure and attempt to knock out the main reactor'

The hologram carried out the job that the Alliance wanted to achieve in miniature form, and the whole room watched as the animated Death Star exploded into a ball of light. Ackbar shut down the hologram and barked the order.

'General Calrissian has volunteered to lead the fighter attack' he said gruffly, and Anna's head spun around to stare at Lando.

'Good Luck' Han smirked, Anna mirroring his expression, Lando glared at them both with a small grin, 'you're gonna need it'

Anna grinned at Lando's face, before turning her attention back to the briefing.

'General Madine' Ackbar introduced, before the general Anna had been in training with a few times when they were both lowly commanders, stepped up.

'We have stolen a small imperial shuttle' Anna let out a small groan and looked at Han, he looked back guiltily before she turned back to Madine, 'disguised as a cargo ship, and using a secret imperial code, a strike team will land on the moon and deactivate the shield generator'

'Sounds dangerous' Leia murmured beside Han, 'Wonder who they found to pull that off' Anna snickered and Leia glanced over at her with a frown, Han swallowed.

'General Solo' Madine interrupted the exchange that was about to take place, 'General Carter- is your strike team assembled?'

Leia looked up at Han in disbelief, as Han's attention was drawn to the General in front of him.

'Our teams ready, we don't have a command crew for the shuttle' he informed him.

'Thanks for taking care of everything' Anna muttered under her breath sarcastically.

Chewie roared in agreement to take on the mission, offended that Han hadn't already picked him.

'It's going to be rough. I didn't wanna speak for you' Han said to the Wookie, who rolled his eyes, Anna grinned.

'That's one' Han informed Madine with a smile.

'General' Leia grabbed Han's arm, 'count me in'

'I'm with you too' Luke's voice echoed around the chamber, as Anna felt a twist in her stomach, something wasn't right. He made his way down the steps towards them, as Leia leapt up to embrace him with a wide smile. It seemed she too, picked up on the issue that was making Anna stand there with a frown.

'What is it?' Leia asked him, her hands on his shoulders.

'Ask me again sometime' he said before Han and Chewie went over to him, Anna followed too- a little ways behind the rest of them.

'Hi Han, Chewie' Luke smiled widely, and then he caught Anna's frowning gaze, 'Anna?'

'Luke' Anna let out a breath, and forced a smile onto her face before embracing him slightly.

'What's wrong?' he whispered in her ear.

'You tell me' she sighed, pulling away from the hug.

'I can't' he said bluntly, and her frown deepened before she turned away and linked arms with Han.

'So when were you going to tell me, you'd volunteered my services on this death mission?' she asked him with a grin.

'Ahh I thought we always said we'd go down together' he laughed, 'you're not going back on a promise now are you?'

'Never in a million years' Anna smiled, leaning her head on his shoulder, before letting go and skipping over to the kit store which they were all heading to down the corridor from the main briefing room.

'Anna' Luke said softly from behind her, as she was pulling out a camouflaged jacket to go over her black jumpsuit she was sporting.

'Mmhmm?' she turned around to face him, a fake smile on her face.

'Don't be mad- I-I just can't tell you' he sighed, pained expression on his face.

'Okay' Anna said sweetly, turning back around and picking up some packs for her blaster.

Luke brushed her wrist with his hand, she turned around to him, shoving the packs into her belt.

'Come with me a minute' he whispered, so that the others couldn't hear, and she nodded.

He led her by the hand to a small service corridor that was quiet and abandoned.

'Anna' he sighed, 'it's not that I don't want to tell you, I just can't- not yet'

'Luke its fine' she sighed back, putting her hands on her hips, looking around.

'I want you to be okay' his blue eyes searching her own, her frame relaxed.

'Don't worry about me' she laughed, slightly, 'I'm alright- it's me' she laughed again, and brushed her hand on his cheek, 'but I'm worried about you'

Luke held her hand on his cheek and kissed her palm, before closing the distance between the two of them, wrapping his arms around her waist.

'I'll be alright' he sighed, and she looked up through her lashes at him, their foreheads pressed together, 'I will be-soon' he sighed again.

'I hope so' she smiled, before pecking his lips with hers and pulling back again to look at him. He frowned at their lack of contact and leaned in again, brushing his soft lips against hers. She smiled against his lips before returning the kiss, deepening it slightly, before pulling away and brushing the stray strands of hair out of her face.

'Come on' he nudged her and they ended their embrace, before they headed back to find the shuttle.

It wasn't difficult to find the shuttle- it stuck out like a sore thumb with all the alliance ships. Anna led the way up the ramp, Luke following closely behind.

'After you general' he smirked and she rolled her eyes.

'Cute poncho' she retorted, pulling her jacket on and she ascended the ramp.

'You're wearing the same thing' he argued as they settled into the cockpit, the first ones- beside the strike team.

'I am not' Anna scoffed, 'see' she flapped the jacket open and closed.

'You're wearing black like me' he replied, and she rolled her eyes.

'Ooh we're practically twins' she laughed at him and he laughed weakly. 'What did I say?' she asked- a frown on her face.

'Nothing Anna' he smiled brightly, and they set about warming the engine up for Han.

Anna had a seat next to Chewie and Han, Luke was sat behind her and Han's seats. Her and Luke settled into them, flicking the appropriate switches as Chewie entered the cockpit.

'You alright pal?' Anna asked him, he only nodded in response.

'Got her warmed up?' Han barked as he squeezed into the small cockpit.

'Yeah, she's coming up' Luke replied as Anna fumbled about on the floor of the cockpit before settling back into her seat and strapping in.

'Where's Leia?' she frowned at Luke, as Chewie complained about the poor head room.

'I don't think the empire had Wookies in mind when they designed her, Chewie' Han muttered back as Leia stumbled her way into the cockpit.

Han was staring out the cockpit screen to the Falcon, a frown set deep on his face. Leia leaned in between the seats to whisper in his ear.

'Hey, you awake?' she put a hand on his shoulder.

'Yeah.' He sighed, 'I just got a funny feeling, like I'm not gonna see her again'

'Come on General' Leia comforted him, 'Let's move' she climbed into the seat diagonally behind Anna.

'Right' Han agreed, 'Chewie, let's see what this piece of junk can do'

Anna glanced behind her to Luke and gave him a weak smile, before nudging Han's elbow and winking.

'We've got this' she smiled, and he nodded.

'Ready everybody?' Han asked them all.

'All set' Luke confirmed, and Anna flicked switches to set the course and then strapped herself in.

'Here we go again' Threepio commented gravely, and Anna rolled her eyes. _Drama Queen._

They flew the shuttle out of the docking bay, and once clear of the fleet- made the jump to lightspeed. After about five minutes, the dash started to bleep, informing them that they were coming up on the coordinates for the moon base.

They skipped out of hyperspace and they flew the shuttle cautiously towards the Star Destroyers guarding the base.

'If they don't go for this, we're gonna have to get out pretty quick' Han grumbled to Anna and Chewie. Anna saw Luke exchange a doubtful glance with Leia.

'We have you on our screen now, please identify' an imperial voice comes over the intercom system.

'Shuttle Tydirium requesting deactivation of the deflector shield' Han spoke clearly back.

The voice asked them to transmit their clearance code for the shield deactivation, the cockpit waited with baited breath as the comlink went dead whilst they were checking the code.

'Transmission commencing' Han grumbled.

'Now we find out if that code is worth the price we paid' Leia stated, gloomily.

'Jeez could we be any more pessimistic?' Anna scoffed, turning around to see both Luke and Leia's concerned expressions.

'It'll work' Han said confidently, 'It'll work' he sighed and Anna rolled her eyes.

'Vader's on that ship' Luke said quietly, to everyone, but also himself. Anna's head whipped around to look at him with wide-eyes.

'Now don't get jittery Luke' Han warned, but Anna's eyebrows knitted together and she desperately searched Luke's face for answers, but she drew a blank, he was looking past her to the ship.

'There are a lot of command ships' Han tried to reason, 'keep your distance, Chewie, but don't look like you're keeping your distance'

Anna frowned at Han, and Chewie whined in confusion.

'I don't know' Han grumbled back, 'fly casual' he offered.

'Shuttle Tydirium, what is your cargo and destination' a voice came through the speakers.

'Parts and technical crew for the forest moon' Han confidently stated his rehearsed lines.

Anna breathed a shaky breath and looked over at Luke for comfort, but found none.

'I'm endangering the mission, I shouldn't have come' Luke still had his far-away look in his eyes as he stared at the ship.

'It's your imagination kid' Han leaned behind to glance at Luke, but caught Anna's worried expression as she shook her head quickly.

'Come on' Han kept eye contact with Anna, 'let's keep a little optimism here'

They continued to drift towards the imperial fleet and Han lost whatever shred of optimism he had before.

'They're not going for it Chewie' he murmured, as they continued to wait.

'Shuttle Tydirium' the comlink buzzed to life again, 'deactivation of the shield will commence immediately. Follow your present course' They all let out a relieved breath, but Anna was still concerned at Luke's unease, she could feel it swelling in her stomach.

'Okay-I told you it would work' Han announced, his usual cockiness returning, Anna rolled her eyes. 'No problem!'

Anna sighed, and turned around to take Luke's hand, he glanced down to her and forced a smile across his troubled expression.

The ship accelerated towards the moon's surface landing site, cutting through the thin atmosphere to land deep into the forest where they would be able to organise their offensive on the shield generator site.

Anna got out of the ship first, passing the rest of the crew and setting up with her extra blaster and packs to go with it. Stumbling down the ramp she looked around to catch her bearings, Han joining her down the ramp, they both laughed at the site of Luke and Leia.

'What's with the hats?' Anna squeezed out through laughter, 'you both look hilarious'

'Oh shut up!' Leia retorted.

'It's the fact they're both matching' Han grinned, and let out a small laugh, 'you're like twins or something'

'Stop it' Luke scolded them and they straightened themselves up from laughter and put on their professional faces.

'Right listen up everyone' Han called softly to the assembled crew, 'you know the formation, let's move out people'

They all took place in single file, Han at the front of his squad and Anna at the front of hers which was bringing up the rear. They walked as silently as they possibly could, trying to avoid snapping the twigs under foot. It was over an hour before they stopped with a signal from Han at the front, Anna frowned, and carefully picked her way through the squad to the front where Han, Leia and Luke were holding up.

Anna crouched next to Luke, as all four of them peered over a felled tree, moss thick covering its surface. They observed three storm troopers milling around their speeders.

'Should we try and go around?' Leia asked.

'It'll take time' Luke replied to her and they all frowned.

'This whole party will be for nothing if they see us' Han quipped, and Anna nodded gloomily.

'Chewie, Anna and I will take care of this' Han informed Leia and Luke, 'Anna you go around make sure no one escapes- Chewie and I will go and get him' he pointed to Luke and Leia, 'you stay here'

'Quietly!' Luke warned Han more than Anna (who had made her way around to Han's side of the log) and Chewie, 'There might be more of them out there!'

'Hey' Han scoffed, and Anna looked at him as she was standing behind him, 'it's me' he grinned.

Anna groaned, and face-palmed before giving the exasperated expressions of Luke and Leia a weak smile and then following Han. Anna rounded further around the Stormtroopers quietly, and watched eagerly from the cover of a bush, as Han made his approach.

Anna made sure to keep her eyes on the other two troopers that were pretty close to her, she knew she could jump them if she put her mind to it. Han approached the other trooper and just as he was about to jump them, he stepped on a twig- the snap echoing around the forest as if a bomb had exploded.

Anna rolled her eyes, but jumped out of her hiding place to take down the nearest trooper to her. She launched herself across the gap between her and the trooper, clattering onto him as he tried to escape for help on his speeder. She banged his head against the tree, before seeing the other trooper escaping on his speeder.

Anna jumped onto the incapacitated trooper's speeder, and head out in pursuit of the Stormtrooper that would blow their cover, and ultimately their mission. Just as soon as Anna managed to fumble out her blaster whilst manoeuvring the speeder around the trees, blaster fire shot out behind her and she watched as the Stormtrooper was knocked off the speeder. Anna glanced behind and saw Chewie standing there with a smoking blaster.

'Thanks buddy' she smiled, before spying two more speeders cruising through the forest she sighed heavily, before accelerating after them. She nearly jumped off the speeder when she heard another one coming up behind her, and sighed with relief when she saw it was just Luke and Leia.

Anna came up alongside one of the Stormtroopers, taking her blaster and firing the trooper was hit by a blast and his speeder lurched towards hers. She tried desperately to dislodge the speeder from hers, but it was no use- she had lost full control and was now veering towards a huge tree. Anna let out a cry as she tried to jump clear, but she was hit by some flying debris from the exploding two intertwined speeders.

Anna felt a sharp pain in her head, before she felt herself fall unconscious.

*BREAK*

Anna awoke, damp. She blinked her eyes to clear her vison and to try and gather her bearings, she remained very still and listened. She heard nothing; no rustling of bushes, no footsteps and thankfully no blaster fire.

She stood up, dabbing the area of her head where she felt pain, there was a little blood, but nothing serious. She wiped it with the back of her hand and started to walk in the vague direction her senses were telling her to go. She reached out with the Force but couldn't sense Luke's presence, she did feel something else though. Deciding quickly to follow the somewhat familiar presence, Anna began walking.

She picked her way carefully through the thick shrubbery for what felt like hours, but it couldn't have been more than half an hour. She felt the presence become stronger as she rounded a tree and came face to face with a spearhead.

'Argh!' yelled a small furry thing less than half Anna's height. She let out a small gasp before she looked up to find Leia close behind the creature.

'No! No!' the princess exclaimed quickly, making her way over to Anna, 'she's my friend'

Anna just stood there, completely perplexed at the entire situation.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! See you soon x**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hellooo! Thank you for reading the last chapter and for the follows and favourites, thank you to the lovely Guest and the ever faithful Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967 for the reviews- you're lush!**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter- next one should be up soon but I'm having a hectic few weeks so I'll try my best!**

 **Thank you for sticking with me and please leave a review and let me know what you think**

* * *

Anna was prodded slightly with the spear from the creature, she recoiled from it.

'Hey' she exclaimed to the furry thing, 'that hurt'

It started jabbering at her, and Anna looked over to Leia who just held her arms up in an 'I have no idea' gesture. Then the little thing took Anna's hand gingerly, doubtful that she wouldn't recoil again, but she didn't. He held it for a second before shaking it and then pulling her along after him, after a few steps he paused to ensure that Leia, too, was following him.

'What are they?' Anna frowned back to Leia, and the princess shook her head.

'Luke's a mess by the way' Leia commented.

'Why? What happened?' Anna's fear rose in her chest, 'is he okay?'

'He's fine' Leia reassured her, putting a hand on her arm and squeezing it, 'well he was when I got knocked off my speeder' she frowned.

'It's good to see you Leia' Anna hugged her awkwardly, the small creature still holding her other hand, chatting away to himself as he walked.

'He thought you were dead Anna' Leia said lowly, 'I thought you were too- we rushed past you on the speeder and all we could see was an explosion'

'I know I jumped clear' then she gestured to her head, 'well almost' with a short laugh she smiled at her friend.

'I hope they're alright' Anna whispered, with Leia nodding in agreement.

They walked through the forest, the little creature let go of Anna's hand after several minutes. They followed him uphill, before beginning to ascend some wooden ramp structures. Leia and Anna looked upwards to find a community of tree houses build into the landscape of this strange moon.

'What is this place?' Leia muttered.

'This is quite adorable' Anna chuckled lightly, before being met with a group of more furry creatures. They were jabbering to the one who had met them, and their little friend gestured towards them both.

'What?' Anna asked them and they continued to jabber on, she looked round at Leia, she was just as confused as she was.

Suddenly, the small animals started gesturing at them, the group moving towards them and they were both hurried into a large hut.

*BREAK*

After being fed with copious amounts of fruit and stew and given several warm drinks that were not quite tea, but they weren't bad, the creatures had undone the braids that Anna and Leia had in their hair and dressed them in odd dresses that they assumed the creatures had made for them.

They were currently sat around a fire inside a hut, as the group elder was discussing something with about twenty other furry creatures, they couldn't understand a word they were saying but they continued to look at the two humans.

Anna looked at Leia, they both looked pretty similar in their odd dresses; Leia's hair was just below her waist, and Anna's had grown to just above hers, Leia's was wavier than Anna's curlier hair.

'I think we should stay the night here' Anna said, lowly to her friend, 'and then tomorrow try and regroup with the rest of the team'

'I think you're right' Leia said, 'we should ask for supplies, there's no knowing when we might catch up with them'

'I hope they're alright' Anna replied, almost to herself.

Suddenly there was a commotion from outside, Anna mirrored Leia's quizzical expression as the group elders hurried out of the hut. Leia followed them out into the main square of the treehouse community, with Anna close behind.

'Leia!' Anna heard Luke's voice through the commotion, 'Anna?' he called, and she made her way around Leia who was currently rushing to Han trying to convince the creatures that they should let them go.

'What are you doing tied up like that?!' Anna exclaimed at Luke, and he just rolled his eyes.

 _Long story, they think Threepio's a God and they're cooking us for him_ he sent through the Force.

 _Ahh okay_ Anna replied, then frowned; why had she accepted that crazy turn of events?

 _Because everything these past four years has been crazy_ Luke sent again, with a rueful grin.

'Threepio!' Anna yelled, 'tell them to let them go!'

Threepio started to try and talk to the creatures, but there was no use.

'Somehow I get the feeling that didn't help us very much!' Han exclaimed, bitterly.

'Threepio, tell them if they don't do as you wish that you will become angry and use your magic' Luke intervened, Anna looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

'But master Luke, what magic? I couldn't possibly-' Threepio chattered.

'Tell them!' Luke ordered the shiny droid.

Threepio translated the message that Luke had instructed, they all stopped what they were doing, before they shrugged and carried on building the fire.

'You see Master Luke?' Threepio whined, 'They didn't believe me just as I said you wouldn't'

'Wait' Han called, trying to blow out the torch that they were trying to light the fire with.

'Luke-' Anna stepped towards him, but he shut his eyes, concentrating. Anna looked round to the commotion as she saw Threepio floating on his make-shift throne, and the creatures whom Threepio had named Ewoks were squealing and cowering from him. They rushed at Anna, some of the smaller ones grabbing hold of her legs and hiding behind them.

'Put me down!' Threepio yelled, 'Help!'

Anna laughed, as the droid continued to yelp and she looked over at Luke who gave her a smile. The Ewoks ran about to untie their prisoners, when Han was free Leia ran at him, he picked her up and swirled her around with a kiss.

'Luke!' Anna called, rushing over to him but snagging her foot on a log and she fell over. Hitting the ground with a huff she rolled her eyes, _why am I like this?_

'Anna what you doing?' Luke mumbled, helping her to her feet.

'Thanks' she muttered, brushing herself off, 'I think I have some twigs in my hair' she laughed.

'Um yeah' he laughed, pulling a few bits of tree out of her hair, and brushed it off her face, 'you look nice'

'You don't have to day that' she laughed, rolling her eyes, but he grabbed her hand.

'I thought you were gone, Anna' he frowned.

'Nahh, I'm not going anywhere' she smiled, leaning in to press a kiss to his lips.

'You better not be' he mumbled against her lips, snaking an arm around her waist, they followed the rest of the congregation inside the largest hut.

Anna sat down with Luke, along with the rest of the crew as Threepio managed to negotiate the Ewoks to help them in their mission tomorrow. Once everyone had settled, Threepio began telling the Ewoks their entire story, with help from sound effects from Artoo.

Anna laughed as Artoo made blaster noises, and the smaller of the furry creatures shrinking from them in fear. She managed to get quick snippets from the story Threepio was telling the group, she looked up at Luke, who was stood up next to her, his eyebrows were furrowed and his jaw was clenched.

'Wonderful!' Threepio exclaimed suddenly, 'we are now part of the tribe!'

'Hey' she said softly, tugging on his hand lightly, he bent down to lean near her, 'what's up?'

'Nothing Anna' he smiled weakly and she rolled her eyes.

'I can still tell when you're lying you know' Anna said lowly, and he smirked at her.

'I'll be back in a minute' he sighed, holding her hand up to his lips to press a quick kiss there before pulling his hand out of her grip and straightening himself to leave the hut.

Anna frowned, watching Luke leave the hut with a sigh. She was terrified at what tomorrow might bring, she was afraid to love Luke, but she knew she did, maybe it wasn't a fear of loving him, but more losing him? Something that Anna could so easily do tomorrow. She wanted to tell him, but was afraid he might not feel the same, but she had to tell him- tomorrow it could be too late.

'Right' she muttered, determined, under her breath, before getting up with a huff and trying to pick her way around the Ewoks and out of the hut into the night.

'Hey-'Anna said her greeting softly, but stopped abruptly when she saw Luke kissing Leia's cheek and walking away. Her stomach lurched and her heart pounded in her ears.

'Where's he going?' Anna probed Leia, the betrayal laced in her voice, but the princess just looked at Anna with teary eyes.

He hadn't even looked back at her- what was she thinking? He didn't love her, he's always loved the princess, he'd been besotted ever since he lay eyes on her little blue form in that message he'd told her about years before.

A lump rose in Anna's chest and she had to bite her lip to stop a sob from appearing, this is what she'd been afraid of- she hated feeling things. With eyes filling with tears she turned around to see Han, with a puzzled expression on his face.

'Hey' he looked at Luke's disappearing form, to Anna and then Leia, 'what's going on?'

'Nothing' Leia looked at him, 'I just wanna be alone for a little while'

'Nothing?' Han wasn't buying it, and neither was Anna, 'Come one, tell me.' He perched on the edge of the railing, 'What's going on?'

'I-I can't tell you' Leia replied, a pained expression on her face, Han stood up out of anger and gestured in the direction Luke had left in.

'Could you tell Luke?' he spat, 'Is that who you could tell?'

Leia let out a cry and turned from him, her face a picture of anguish, Anna's anger soften a bit- her friend was in pain. Han went to storm off but stopped when he saw Anna's face drawn in concern for her friend, she nodded towards Leia before turning around and walking to the hut she was to sleep in.

*BREAK*

Anna was crouched behind a fallen tree with her squad, waiting from the order from Han's people in front. Han turned around and gestured to her, she ran, crouched, over to him.

'Sup?' she asked with a grin.

'There's another entrance the other side of the ridge' Han informed her, 'we're going to go around'

'Okay, great' Anna smiled, her hair was back up in her braids and she had changed out of her dress.

'Stay up front for now' Han said, with a hand on her arm, 'I could use your thinking A'

'Sure' Anna was still angry that Luke had gone, she didn't know where- but she could guess he'd gone to confront his father.

They began to trek around the large landing platform at a safe distance, ensuring that they would not attract the attention of any guards, nor those troopers on patrol. One of the Ewoks had gone on ahead to make sure that the route was clear of any patrols, when they had stopped- the little creature waved her and Han over.

They moved quickly and quietly through the bush, Han almost tripping over a log, but they made it and peered through the forest shrubbery to find a small entrance to the shield generator centre.

'Back door huh?' Han mumbled to the little fellow, looking up and Anna and Leia, 'good idea'

The two leading Ewoks were wittering as Han, Anna and Leia discussed tactics.

'It's only a few guards' Han said lowly.

'Shouldn't be too much trouble' Anna replied with a shrug.

'It only takes one to sound the alarm' Leia muttered as they went back to staring at the situation in front of them, Threepio talking in the background.

'Then we'll do it real quiet-like' Han turned his head to grin at her, Anna smiled.

'Oh' Threepio exclaimed, 'Oh, my- Princess Leia'

Leia hopped up out of her crouch and covered Threepio's mouth, Anna turned and glared at him.

'Quiet!' she whispered to him, before she let his mouth go.

'I'm afraid' Threepio began, in a much lower register, 'our furry companion has gone and done something rather rash'

He gesticulated towards some speeders off in the distance, near the entrance, Leia and Anna looked, whilst Chewie whined in dissatisfaction.

'Oh no' Anna and Leia said at the same time, everyone's attention was now on the little furry creature and how he was about to give them away.

'There goes our surprise attack' Han grumbled as they watched him fiddle with one of the speeders before clambering onto it. He started it up, which immediately attracted the attention of the loitering guards.

'Look!' One of them called, 'Over there! Stop him!'

The four guards ran over to the Ewok just as he sped away, three of them hopped onto their speeders and one was left standing there in bewilderment. Anna smiled.

'Ha, not so bad after all' she looked to Han and Leia who had the same expression.

'Not bad for a little furball' Han grinned, 'now there's only one left'

'You stay here' Han pointed his finger in Threepio's face as he got up from his crouch, Anna doing the same behind him, 'we'll take care of this'

Threepio scurried off towards Artoo, turning around to look at them.

'I have decided that we shall stay here' he announced proudly, Anna rolled her eyes.

'Come on, let's go' She mumbled to the small group.

The small strike team manoeuvred themselves around to the side of the building, out of sight from the guard. Han took his position the other side, before sneaking up on the trooper and tapping him on the shoulder. He ran around to the side of the building, leading the trooper straight into a trap.

He stopped dead when he game face-to-face with fifteen blasters, and dropped his weapon. Using his code they were able to open the doors to the shield generator cautiously. They all had their weapons drawn and gingerly made their way inside, it looked deserted and Anna felt a twist in her stomach that something was wrong.

'Han?' she whispered, and he stepped closer to her, 'something's not right'

'It's just you overthinking things' he replied with a pat to her arm, but she wasn't convinced.

They made their way deeper inside the compound before realising that there was no one there.

'Han!' Anna called to him as she felt a blaster press to her lower back.

'You rebel scum' the harsh voice called, as Anna was pushed by her assailant towards the rest of them. She turned to see a group of soldiers all standing with their blasters out.

'Scum!?' Anna, Han and Leia scoffed in unison, before being marched out of the compound with the rest of the group.

They were led out the way they had come in, squinting in the sunlight, they saw the full military power this base had. There were walkers, storm troopers, regular troopers and lots of blasters pointed at their now small looking rebel offensive. Anna let out a sigh and stepped closer to Chewie, feeling safer with him.

'Alright' one of the troopers called, 'move it'

They all continued walking down towards the rest of their group with grin expressions, Anna's mind was whirring, trying desperately to come up with a plan that would help them escape this dreadful experience.

'Hello!' Anna's head whipped round to Threepio's voice, 'I say, over there!' Anna bit her lip, _force she loved that stupid tin man_. 'were you looking for me?'

Anna nudged Han with her elbow now they all had their hands on their heads.

'Be ready' she mouthed and he nodded once.

There was a commotion as the energy that filled the band of rebels started to buzz again, this was their only chance, they had to make it work.

'Bring those two down here!' one of the soldiers ordered the troopers, as the commotion continued to build.

Just as the squad of troopers had reached the two droids, there was a shriek as the green plants on the forest floor erupted with a mass of furry animals. They jumped on the storm troopers, and Anna heard a horn sound before more of the creatures revealed themselves from the undergrowth, bow and arrows trained and makeshift weapons trained on the Imperial forces.

They fired, and Anna jumped into action, they all did.

Taking her chance, Anna jumped at one of the unarmoured soldiers, kneeing him in the stomach, she grabbed his blaster out of his hand. She spun around, trying to shoot at the drivers of the big walkers that could so easily cause such many losses.

 _Right, here goes nothing_ Anna thought with a gruff, _all this practice might have been for nothing._

Anna took a deep breath and focused her mind, doing what Luke had taught her, she allowed the force to flow through her. Once she felt it buzzing through her veins, she let go with a grunt.

It shocked backwards a group of storm troopers who were running towards Han and her, they fell back a hundred feet and Han paused a moment looking at Anna- mouth agape.

'I'll go after the walkers, you get the door open!' she ordered, with a grin before running off into the forest, quickly knocking out a storm trooper and taking his blaster as she went.

Anna ran full force after the slower walking robots that towered above the ground forces, almost at tree level. Past a platoon of storm troopers who were chasing after a small group of Ewoks, Anna skidded to a halt when she saw one of the furry creatures being hit by laser blast.

'Nope' she grunted, before changing direction and firing her blaster at the trooper whom had fired at the Ewok. Three of the soldiers spun around to the source of blaster fire, all shooting at Anna, who was coming in fast, all missing the direct target but one blast clipping Anna's shoulder.

Anna winced from the searing pain, but carried on running at them, hoping she had given the Ewoks enough time to prepare what they were trying to. She smiled when she saw the small group leader hold up a rope and throw it to her, she tugged on it slightly, still running, before plunging her blaster away and gripping the rope firmly. When she saw the group of Ewoks hit the deck she put all her weight on the rope and swung around on it, she looked down and saw a massive log rolling out of nowhere and hitting the bewildered Storm troopers at full force.

Laughing Anna then realised that she was quickly becoming a sitting duck, as the rope swung her around she managed to grasp herself onto one of the low-lying branches of one of the trees. She grinned, she had always loved climbing trees when she was little, and she hoped it was something you couldn't easily forget.

With a huff, she hauled her body onto the precarious branch and began to make her ascent towards the canopy of the forest, and ultimately her aim: the walkers.

After several cuts to her hands and forearms, and the muscle in her left shoulder screaming at her through the blaster wound, Anna had finally made her way to the height of one of the walkers.

Unfortunately for Anna; there were no walkers nearby.

She could see one, about five trees over, blasting at a cowering group of her squadron, having made its destructive path through the forest, had reverted on its course back towards the shield generator and Anna's precious friends.

'Shit' she mumbled, as she wobbled slightly on the branch, thinking quickly.

She was going to have to jump.

 _Please let there be a different way._

 _Nope, I'm going to have to try and jump them._

 _And hope for the best._

 _And hope that the damn thing gets closer and I only have to jump a couple._

 _Ha. When has my life ever been that lucky?_

Anna breathed deeply and focused her eyes on the next branch, she let the Force's power flow through her veins, hoping that it might, just maybe, give her some help. She let go of every sense she had, tensing her muscles in her legs before rolling her eyes, taking a deep breath and jumping through the air.

It was about six metres between each tree and Anna was extremely surprised when she made it across the gap, scrambling at the branches on her second tree to regain balance and some kind of composure.

She took another breath and again, tensed her muscles before taking another leap across the second gap between trees. Again, she made it, and thanked the force that she was now closer to the moving walker.

Just one more jump and she could probably reach the walker.

Anna breathed again, regaining her concentration and calm, before taking another leap into the air towards the next tree.

It wasn't third time lucky.

Anna felt herself falling through the air, panic ensued as she scrabbled at the branches to try and desperately stop herself from falling to almost certain death on the forest floor. After falling a good twenty feet, Anna managed to grip a branch, regrettably with her left arm, causing the fairly small blaster wound to rip and tear in her arm, causing her to cry out in pain.

She hauled her right arm up to grip the branch and pulled herself onto it, shuffling so that she was sitting tight against the tree. She winced at the agonizing pain in her arm, feeling the sticky wetness of blood pooling down her sleeve, seeing the shot of red through the whole the blast had mad in her sleeve.

'Crap' She muttered, resting her head against the tree she watched from twenty-five feet of the ground, the scene unfolding below her, she glanced up, 'oh Luke, I hope you're alright'

Closing her eyes for a second, Anna took a deep breath before regaining her composure and checking the status of the approaching walker. It was closing in on her fast, so she had to move.

Ignoring (to the best of her abilities, but let's face it, as much as she'd like to think it, Anna was no superwoman) the pain in her arm, Anna pulled herself up and stumbled along the branch. Finding the right kind of footing, she started to uncoil the cable she had on a roll on her belt, swinging out the grapple hook on the end of it she got a good momentum going. As soon as the walker came in close enough proximity, she swung it clean and it landed with a thud.

Anna braced herself, before being pulled along with the walker, swaying like a doll with the motion of the giant metal beast, she began to zip the wire in closing the distance between her and the underside of the cab.

Once she reached the cool metal of the walker's cab, she scrambled to get a grip onto the metal, and once she had got herself into a safe enough position, she detached her grapple hook. Climbing up the side of the walker's cab, Anna managed to secure herself well, and once she had done so clambered up onto the top of the cab.

Taking another deep breath, something she was doing a lot that day, she hauled on the large metal door as it opened she pulled her blaster out of her holster. She shot the three occupants of the cab and climbed in.

Pushing them to the side, still alive and groaning in their semi-unconscious state , she took all of their weapons and then took control of the walker. Anna started it walking, it lurched forwards and she stopped it again, before pulling on the controls and gaining back momentum and steering the walker towards a group of storm troopers who were shooting at the entrance where Han and Leia were trying to open it.

Once she had taken out that threat to her friends, Anna manoeuvred it around towards another walker in the distance. She squinted her eyes and aimed the walker's blasters at the other one, that was currently destroying the trees, along with the little furry creatures who had helped them so much at this point.

She looked around and realised that her walker was now just hindering the effort by the rebel forces by getting in the way, she pulled two grenades from her belt and clicked the button to arm them. Throwing them down one on each side of the cab, she clambered out of the open hatch and onto the top of the walker.

She hurled her grapple hook around a branch of a near tree and swung on it just in time, before the interior of the cab was consumed by two explosions, causing the walker's legs to cripple. The metal beast crumpled to the forest floor, still slightly ablaze, Anna tried to smoothly hit the ground but she'd misjudged the length of her cord, hitting the ground with a thud.

Clambering to her feet, she took off in direction of the shield generator.

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 **Thanks for reading x**


	22. Chapter 22

**This one isn't as long as the other ones but this is just an ending of the trilogy as we know and love (with a little addition of Anna!) but I hope to continue- if people want me to?**

 **Thank you for sticking with me, Uni has been so crazy recently but I've had a little break to write, I have lots of ideas for the story in the 30years before the Force Awakens, which I'd also like to incorporate into the story I have in my head...**

 **Thank you for the follows and the reviews- you're all lovely people! I will be back soon, if you want more... please leave a review on what you think of the chapter and if I should continue!**

* * *

Anna skidded to a halt when she saw the walker's blasters aimed directly at Han, who had his arms up in surrender.

'Han!' she called desperately, before her attention was pulled away from him and to the opening hatch of the walker. Her chest relaxed and she let out a breath she had been holding, it was Chewie.

'Chewie!' Han shouted to his buddy, 'get down here! She's wounded'

Anna spied Leia on the ground and the blood on Han's fingers, again dread encircled her, she ran to them.

'Leia!' she let out a desperate shout when she reached the small group, 'are you alright!?'

'I can ask you the same thing' the Princess replied with a grin, 'is that blood?' she nodded to her shoulder.

'Yes' Anna glanced down, scouring her friend for wounds, and then laughed, 'force Leia we're like twins, look at the state of us'

'Oh I know' she laughed with her, as they both nursed their arm wounds.

'I got an idea!' Han grinned at the two women, and Anna looked up at Chewie in the walker.

'Good plan' she confirmed, before running off and retrieving charges from the stragglers of the rebel forces who were beginning to make their way back to the target.

Once Anna had got everyone into their positions, she, Han and Chewie then hid next to the door with their blasters drawn, lying in wait for the trap they had set- to spring.

Soon enough the doors slid open and out came a squad of troops, they all sprung into action, the Ewoks, the rebels and the three smugglers, capturing the imperial squad and managing to take control of their target finally.

*BREAK*

They were running, as fast as they could, out of the shield generator building.

'MOVE!' Han shouted, 'Move!'

They dived behind the barrier that the mound of dirt that would hopefully protect them from the blast. They hit the ground and managed to turn around just in time to see the entrance that they had exited from explode, the explosion spread up into the dish that was providing the death star with its shield.

They lay in the dirt laughing crazy laughs, the relaxation swallowing their bodies- their job was done, now it was for the rest of the team to get the job done. Leia was next to Han, they were smiling at each other and Anna looked away, giving them a private moment.

Her eyes drifted to the incomplete Death Star looming above their heads, her joy and relief faded as her eyes filled with tears, one spilling over and flowing down her cheek.

'Why didn't you tell me' she whispered, to herself before wiping her tear away and went to get up.

And then it hit her.

A searing pain, spreading from her heart, out towards the nerve endings in her body- leaving a sharp tingle. Anna's eyes watered all over again, for a different reason and she fell to the ground, gasping for breath. Something was wrong, really wrong.

'Anna?' Leia was gasping, looking at her.

'Leia- you feel it too?' Han was looking between the two of them.

'Not' she sucked in a breath, 'as bad as you I think'

And then it passed, as quickly as it came.

'What is wrong with you two?' Han exclaimed, putting a hand on the two most important women in his life.

'I-I don't know' Anna breathed, 'something's wrong'

'With Luke' Leia completed.

'I hope he's alright' Han's jaw clenched and Anna nodded, 'come on A, let's get your arms sorted'

'Yeah alright' she moved into a sitting position, resting her back against the fallen tree, Leia joining her, as Han wandered off to find some medical supplies.

Anna shrugged off her camouflage jacket with a wince, thanking the stars that her black jumpsuit had short-capped sleeves. She glanced down at the mess that was her left arm.

'Ugh' she grunted at the sight of it.

'Anna- that's nasty' Leia commented, and Anna let out a small chuckle.

'I know' she grunted again, 'it'll make a cool scar to show the grandkids'

'I feel sorry for your future children' Leia looked at her and Anna laughed.

'So do I'

Han was back then, trying not to drop all the rubbish he was carrying.

'They threw all this crap at me' he grumbled, sitting down cross-legged in front of them.

'Ahh Han, check you out- being all caring' Anna winked at him and he rolled his eyes.

'Jeeze Anna your arm is a mess' he muttered at her.

'Yeah I know' she grumbled with a grin.

He went about fixing it up, pulling the bandage tight with a wince from her.

'Ow Han, is this payback for something?' she laughed.

'Yeah' he laughed, 'Remember that card game in the Hosnian system?'

'Ahaha' she laughed slightly, 'yeah you sucked'

'You cheated'

'I did not!'

'It was nice there' he grunted, with a fond smile.

'Yeah- we should go back' she smiled back, 'it reminded me of home' Anna raised her eyebrow and looked over at Leia.

'I think that should be our first stop' Leia interjected.

'Oh are we going on tour now then?' Anna piped up, with an eyebrow quirk.

'When this is all over, we should travel' she confirmed.

'Ooh should we start a band too?' Han grinned at Anna.

'Oh stop it you two!' Leia scolded them and they all laughed.

'Alright A,' Han smiled, 'you're done'

'Thanks Han' she kissed him on the cheek and then moved over to allow him to bandage up the wound on Leia's shoulder.

He began putting the bandage on her arm, with sweet words and gentle hands. Anna watched the rebel forces mirroring what they were currently doing, people tending to the wounded and rounding up the Imperial prisoners.

Her attention, like everyone else, was pulled from everything they were doing when a huge explosion rocketed through the sky. She stared, wide-eyed as the large battle station exploded into tiny fragments in the skies above the little moon.

'I'm sure Luke wasn't on that thing on when it blew' Han looked at Anna and Leia.

Anna smiled and looked at him, but it was Leia who spoke.

'He wasn't' Leia looked into the distance, 'I can feel it'

'You love him' Anna looked at Han, who swallowed when he said it, 'don't you?'

Anna looked over at Leia who smiled, and her heart sank- she did.

'Yes' Leia replied, as if he'd just asked her if she liked chocolate, Anna's heart sunk further.

'Alright' Han sighed, 'When he comes back-' he paused to swallow again, 'I won't get in the way'

Leia looked confused for a second and then sighed with a laugh.

'It's not like that at all' she smiled, 'he's my brother' she pulled Han towards her, embracing him in a kiss, it made such sense.

'You kissed him' Anna remarked with a grim expression, 'that's gross'

'Anna can you not' Leia sighed, and Anna laughed.

'No I think that is something that I must always remind you of' Anna laughed, hauling herself up, leaving the two love-birds to their private moment.

There was cheering and dancing as the Ewoks squealed with joy at the destruction of the empire. Anna felt herself being lifted off the ground, she spun around to find furry arms embracing her, she hugged the Wookie back as he spun her around with a laugh.

'We did it!' she exclaimed and laughed with her Wookie friend.

It took over an hour until the walking wounded began to file into a large clearing the Ewoks had begun to congregate in. Darkness had started to fall, and fires were lit and the ships of the rebellion had landed.

Anna's eyes lit up, along with Han's, when the Millennium Falcon came into land in a clearing not far from theirs. Anna, Leia and Han raced away from the growing celebrations towards the ship they knew and loved.

'I knew you'd do it!' Anna exclaimed, greeting Lando and the crew. She wrapped her arms around the man wearing a large smile and still a cape.

'I'm glad someone did' he chuckled at her and she sighed.

'Right, come on- I think the little furballs are throwing a party' Han grumbled, clapping his friend on the shoulder, slinging his arm round Lando's shoulders. They walked past Anna, the whole crew filing off to go and join the party, but Anna stood there, trying to calm her nerves. _Why am I nervous to see Luke?_

'Are you coming?' Leia called, Anna spun around and nodded, taking a deep breath she followed her friends.

*BREAK*

'-and then Anna, swung this massive tray at his face' Lando was explaining to a group of several people whom had gathered round one of the many small fires, the tale of their escape from Jabba. Music was being played in all directions and the party was definitely in full swing.

'He went down soooo easy' Anna grinned to her friend, and the heads of the small congregation spun around to look at her with gazing eyes.

'So then they we hauled-' Lando went on with his story and Anna suddenly lost interest, her heart was cold all of a sudden and she didn't know why, she scanned the crowd and couldn't see him.

Following the tug deep within her she walked away from the growing party and into the darkness of the forest. It took her several minutes before she saw an orange glow and a small plume of smoke arising from a small clearing.

Anna frowned, she hadn't seen one of the aircraft go down in this direction, but she was suddenly aware of someone moving beside her in the forest, a few feet away.

'Anna?' Luke's soft voice came from the darkness and she turned to face him.

'Luke?' she peered in the orange tinge and managed to see his face, and when she saw it everything went out the window, she forgot about being mad, she forgot that he'd left her alone, she loved him.

She moved quickly to him, half-running, half-jumping at him, and he caught her and spun her around in a way that she was quite unhappy no one was witnessing . She had never been that graceful.

'You left' she whispered into his neck, his arms were around her waist and her legs were around him.

'Anna, I'm so sorry' he mumbled back as Anna placed small kisses on his neck.

'I won't let you ever do that again' she scolded him.

'How?' he asked, pulling away- his eyebrow quirked playfully at her. Anna lowered her voice and her forehead to his.

'I will actually break your lightsaber if you ever do it again'

'Why?' he was trying to look shocked but Anna could tell he was holding back a laugh.

'One' she held up a finger, and Luke shifted her so that he was more comfortable, one hand close to her bum and she grinned.

'One, I know that you can fix it' and Luke rolled his eyes with a sigh, 'and two' she held up a second finger, 'because I love you, you damn fool'

Luke dropped her onto her feet and Anna's heart clenched out of fear. She looked at him staring intently at her.

'Really?' he breathed, eyes peering through the dim light.

'Um' Anna stared back at him, 'well yeah' she shrugged.

Luke's eyes softened with what Anna thought was relief, and he crossed the distance between them both. He cupped her face in his hands and leant in to press his lips to hers, she relaxed immediately and deepened the kiss. Once breathless they separated, Luke rested his forehead on hers and smiled at her.

'I love you too'

'Really?' she mirrored his curiosity before.

'Of course I do' he laughed softly, 'how could I not?' Anna smiled broadly and grabbed his hand.

He looked at her with a quizzical look and she raised an eyebrow.

'Come on' she whispered, 'the party can wait'

Anna pulled him by the hand deeper into the forest.

*BREAK*

Anna smoothed her hair down and tried to fix her clothes, laughing mischievously as she saw Luke doing the same before they both entered the clearing a joined the party.

'Hey you two!' Anna heard Han call off to her left, they both turned to look at him, 'where have you been?!'

They both looked at each other and then back at him.

'I went to find Luke in the forest' she smiled, innocently.

'It took you a while' Han grinned and laughed slightly at Anna's blush, 'good to see you buddy' Han embraced his friend warmly, and then turned to Anna and embraced her.

'You know I'll always love you, little sis' he whispered to her as they hugged, 'you and Chewie are the closest thing I've ever had to a family'

'I love you too you old softie' she kissed his cheek and squeezed him tightly before letting go.

'Luke!' Leia rushed over to him and embraced him also, 'you made it- finally!'

'I'm glad you're okay' he said to her, as Anna laughed with both Han and Lando, whom had joined them, at Threepio's dance moves.

'Look at him' Anna giggled, leaning on the tree behind them.

'He's loving this' Lando laughed and Han went over to sling his arm around Leia.

Anna watched as Luke wandered over to the entrance to the clearing they were in, Leia joined him.

'Anna?' a voice from behind her called.

'Wedge?' she spun around with a smile.

'Good to see you!' he laughed with a large grin.

'Same goes for you!'

'I hear you did some good flying up there' Anna nudged his elbow with hers.

'Ha- I don't know about that but we sure could have done with you'

'You did just fine without me' she smiled widely.

'Wedge!' Luke's voice came from behind them, he moved towards them and embraced his friend, before wrapping an arm around Anna's waist and she leant her head on his shoulder.

'We did it buddy' Luke grinned, there were smiles all round.

'I knew we always would' he replied before he was pulled away by some of the squaddies towards the party.

Anna and Luke made their way over to where Chewie was sat with the rest of their friends, they had been joined by the droids.

'What now?' Leia breathed with a sigh, looking at the small group of rebels.

'There's some serious shit to organise I think' Anna chuckled.

'There really is' Luke agreed, along with Leia who nodded her head.

'Can we have a holiday first?' Han groaned.

'I think that's a great idea' Leia laughed, with Chewie whining in agreement.

* * *

 **Thank you so much for reading 3**


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